Who you were
Long before they said you were no more.
Sad excuse fore a sunrise.
It’s so cold out here.
Icy silence and dark skies
As we go round another year.
Let them think what they like, we’re fine.
I will always be right here next to you
I’m your moon.
You’re my moon.
We go round and round.
From out here, it’s rest of the world
That looks so small
Promise me you will always remember
Who you are.
Appendix D
“Pluto’s Not a Planet Anymore”
Complete lyrics © 2006 by Jeff Mondak and Alex Stangl
http://www.jeffspoemsforkids.com
Reprinted with permission
Since 1930, quite a run
It was always the smallest one,
And oh so distant from the sun
But Pluto’s not a planet anymore
Astronomers who had a look
Said “go re-write your science book”
They gave it the celestial hook
Now Pluto’s not a planet anymore
Listen James and Janet
Some experts said to can it
Now Pluto’s not a planet
No, Pluto’s not a planet
Anymore
Uranus may be famous
But Mercury’s feeling hot
For Pluto was a planet,
And somehow now it’s not
Neptune’s nervous, Saturn’s sad,
And jumpin’ Jupiter is hoppin’ mad
Eight remain of nine we had
Pluto’s not a planet anymore
They held the meeting here on Earth
Mars and Venus proved their worth
But puny Pluto lacked the girth
So Pluto’s not a planet anymore
Listen James and Janet
Some experts said to can it
Now Pluto’s not a planet
No, Pluto’s not a planet
Anymore
They met in Prague and voted
Now Pluto’s been demoted
Oh, Pluto’s not a planet anymore
Appendix E
Official Media Response from the Author Regarding the Rose Center’s Exhibit Treatment of Pluto
Submitted to CCNet, UK-based scholarly Internet chat group, February 2, 2001
Regarding our exhibits in New York City’s new Rose Center for Earth and Space, here at the American Museum of Natural History, I am surprised and impressed by the amount of recent media attention triggered by our decision to treat Pluto differently from the other planets in the solar system.
I am surprised because our exhibit has been in place since opening day, 19 February 2000, and our treatment didn’t seem to be newsworthy at the time. I am impressed that people feel so strongly about Pluto that much time and attention had been devoted to it in print and on the air.
The New York Times’ front page article, which ignited the recent firestorm, donned a title that was somewhat a-field of what we actually did, and which I would like to clarify. The title read “Pluto not a Planet? Only in New York,” which implied that we kicked Pluto out of the solar system and that we are alone in this action and that, perhaps more humorously, Pluto wasn’t big enough to make it in NYC.
I have written previously on the subject in an essay titled “Pluto’s Honor” (Natural History Magazine, February 1999) where I review how the classification of “planet” in our solar system has changed many times, most notably with the 1801 discovery of the first of many new planets in orbit between Mars and Jupiter. These new planets, of course, later became known as asteroids. In the essay, arguing in part by analogy with the asteroid belt, I argued strongly that Pluto, being half ice by volume, should assume its rightful status as the King of the Kuiper belt of comets. Apart from my views expressed there, I have a different sort of responsibility to the public as director of the Hayden Planetarium and as project scientist of the Rose Center for Earth & Space.
That responsibility is as an educator for a facility that has received an average of 1,000 people per hour over the past eleven months.
For the exhibit on planets in our “Hall of the Universe,” rather than use the word planet as a classifier, we all but abandon the ill-defined concept and simply group together families of like-objects. In other words, instead of counting planets or declaring what is a planet and what is not, we organize the objects of the solar system into five broad families: the terrestrial planets, the asteroid belt, the Jovian planets, the Kuiper belt, and the Oort cloud. With this approach, numbers do not matter and memorized facts about planets do not matter. What matters is an understanding of the structure and layout of the solar system. On other exhibit panels, in an exercise in comparative planetology, we highlight rings, storms, the greenhouse effect, surface features, and orbits with discussions that draw from all members of the solar system where interesting and relevant.
Our intro-exhibit panel meets the visitor’s expectations head-on:
WHAT IS A PLANET?
In our solar system, planets are the major bodies orbiting the Sun. Because we cannot yet observe other planetary systems in similar detail, a universal definition of a planet has not emerged. In general, planets are massive enough for their gravity to make them spherical, but small enough to avoid nuclear fusion in their cores.
A second panel describes and depicts the layout of the solar system:
OUR PLANETARY SYSTEM
Five classes of objects orbit our Sun. The inner terrestrial planets are separated from the outer gas giant planets by the asteroid belt. Beyond the outer planets is the Kuiper Belt of comets, a disk of small icy worlds including Pluto. Much more distant, reaching a thousand times farther than Pluto, lies the Oort Cloud of comets.
Our goal was to get teachers, students, and the average visitor to leave our facility thinking about the solar system as a landscape of families rather than as an exercise in mnemonic recitation of planet sequences. We view this posture as the scientific and pedagogical high-road.
That being said, I have benefited from some reasoned feedback on what we have done. As many are already aware, we use our giant 87-foot sphere (housing the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater in the upper half and our creation of the first three minutes of the Big Bang in the lower half) as an exhibit unto itself. We invoke it to compare the relative sizes of things in the universe for a walk-around “powers of ten” journey that descends from the observable universe all the way to atomic nuclei. About midway in the journey you come upon the size scale where the sphere represents the Sun. There, hanging from the ceiling, are the Jovian planets (the most highly photographed spot in the facility) while a set of four small orbs sit on view, attached to the railing. These are the terrestrial planets. No other members of the solar system are represented here. This entire exhibit is about size, and not much else. But the absence of Pluto (even though the exhibit clearly states that it’s the Jovian and Terrestrial planets that are represented) has led about ten percent of our visitors to wonder where it is.
In the interest of sound pedagogy we have decided to explore two paths: 1) Possibly add a sign at the right spot on the size scales exhibit that simply asks “Where’s Pluto?” and gives some attention to why it was not included among the models. And 2) We are further considering a more in-depth treatment of the life and times of Pluto to add to our kiosks, which contain our computer-searchable data base of current astrophysics news that we display in a timely fashion on a video “bulletin” wall. This material might even contain a sampling of the various points-of-view expressed on how planets should be counted for those who feel compelled to do so.
I close with the opinion that a mid-ex style mission to Pluto might resonate much more deeply with the public and with congress if instead of saying “we must complete the reconnaissance of the solar system’s planets by se
nding probes to Pluto” we say “we must BEGIN the reconnaissance of a newly discovered, and hitherto uncharted swath of real-estate in our solar system called the Kuiper belt, of which, Pluto reigns as king.
Respectfully Submitted,
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Department of Astrophysics & Director, Hayden Planetarium
Division of Physical Sciences,
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Appendix F
Resolution of the International Astronomical Union on the Definition of a Planet
IAU Resolution 5A
Adopted 24 August 2006, Prague, Czech Republic
Passed by overwhelming majority of 424 attendees of the session
Definition of a Planet in the Solar System
Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the designation “planets.” The word “planet” originally described “wanderers” that were known only as moving lights in the sky. Recent discoveries lead us to create a new definition, which we can make using currently available scientific information.
RESOLUTION 5A (Passed with overwhelming majority vote.)
The IAU therefore resolves that “planets” and other bodies in our Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1) A “planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.52
(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.53
(3) All other objects except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies”.54
Appendix G
New Mexico Legislation Relative to Pluto’s Planetary Status
New Mexico 48th Legislature Joint 54 House Memorial Declaring Pluto a Planet, and March 13, 2007 “Pluto Planet Day”
Introduced by Representative Joni Marie Gutierrez (Democrat, District 33, Dona Ana County), March 8, 2007
WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico is a global center for astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to world class astronomical observing facilities, such as the Apache Point observatory, the very large array, the Magdalena Ridge observatory and the National Solar Observatory; and
WHEREAS, Apache Point observatory, operated by New Mexico state university, houses the astrophysical research consortium’s three-and-one-half meter telescope, as well as the unique two-and-one-half meter diameter Sloan digital sky survey telescope; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico state university has the state’s only independent, doctorate-granting astronomy department; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and Dona Ana county were the longtime home of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto; and
WHEREAS, Pluto has been recognized as a planet for seventy-five years; and
WHEREAS, Pluto’s average orbit is three billion six hundred ninety-five million nine hundred fifty thousand miles from the sun, and its diameter is approximately one thousand four hundred twenty-one miles; and
WHEREAS, Pluto has three moons known as Charon, Nix and Hydra; and
WHEREAS, a spacecraft called New Horizons was launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto in the year 2015;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that, as Pluto passes overhead through New Mexico’s excellent night skies, it be declared a planet and that March 13, 2007 be declared “Pluto Planet Day” at the legislature.
Appendix H
California Legislation Relative to Pluto’s Planetary Status
California Assembly Bill HR36 Relative to Pluto’s Planetary Status Introduced by Assembly Members Keith Richman, M.D. (Republican, District
38—northwest Los Angeles County) and Joseph Canciamilla (Democrat, District 11—Contra Costa County, San Francisco Bay Area), August 24, 2006
WHEREAS, Recent astronomical discoveries, including Pluto’s oblong orbit and the sighting of a slightly larger Kuiper Belt object, have led astronomers to question the planetary status of Pluto; and
WHEREAS, The mean-spirited International Astronomical Union decided on August 24, 2006, to disrespect Pluto by stripping Pluto of its planetary status and reclassifying it as a lowly dwarf planet; and
WHEREAS, Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an American, Clyde Tombaugh, at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, and this discovery resulted in millions of Californians being taught that Pluto was the ninth planet in the solar system; and
WHEREAS, Pluto, named after the Roman God of the underworld and affectionately sharing the name of California’s most famous animated dog, has a special connection to California history and culture; and
WHEREAS, Downgrading Pluto’s status will cause psychological harm to some Californians who question their place in the universe and worry about the instability of universal constants; and
WHEREAS, The deletion of Pluto as a planet renders millions of text books, museum displays, and children’s refrigerator art projects obsolete, and represents a substantial unfunded mandate that must be paid by dwindling Proposition 98 education funds, thereby harming California’s children and widening its budget deficits; and
WHEREAS, The deletion of Pluto as a planet is a hasty, ill-considered scientific heresy similar to questioning the Copernican theory, drawing maps of a round world, and proving the existence of the time and space continuum; and
WHEREAS, The downgrading of Pluto reduces the number of planets available for legislative leaders to hide redistricting legislation and other inconvenient political reform measures; and
WHEREAS, The California Legislature, in the closing days of the 2005–06 session, has been considering few matters important to the future of California, and the status of Pluto takes precedence and is worthy of this body’s immediate attention; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly hereby condemns the International Astronomical Union’s decision to strip Pluto of its planetary status for its tremendous impact on the people of California and the state’s long term fiscal health; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly Clerk shall send a copy of the resolution to the International Astronomical Union and to any Californian who, believing that his or her legislator is addressing the problems that threaten the future of the Golden State, requests a copy of the resolution.
Bibliography
Selected Books on Pluto and the Outer Solar System
GENERAL AUDIENCES
Asimov, Isaac. How Did We Find Out About Pluto? New York: Walker & Company, 1991.
Davies, John. Beyond Pluto. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Elkins-Tanton, Linda. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Outer Solar System. New York: Chelsea House Productions, 2006.
Jones, Tom, and Ellen Stofan. Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2008.
Lemonick, Michael. The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos. New York: Atlas/Norton, 2008.
Minard, Anne, and Carolyn Shoemaker. Pluto and Beyond: A Story of Discovery, Adversity, and Ongoing Exploration. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing, 2007.
Sparrow, Giles. The Solar System: Exploring the Planets and Their Moons, from Mercury to Pluto and Beyond. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2006.
Stern, Alan, and Jacqueline Mitton. Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System. New York: Wiley-V
CH, 2005. Sutherland, Paul. Where Did Pluto Go? Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest, 2009.
Tocci, Salvatore. A Look at Pluto. London: Franklin Watts, 2003.
Weintraub, David A. Is Pluto a Planet?: A Historical Journey Through the Solar System. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Asimov, Isaac, Frank Reddy, and Greg Walz-Chojnacki. A Double Planet?: Pluto and Charon. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1996.
Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System. New York: Scholastic Press, 1992.
Cole, Michael. Pluto: The Ninth Planet. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2002.
Kortenkamp, Stephen J. Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet?: A Book About Planets. New York: First Facts Books, 2007.
Orme, David, and Helen Orme. Let’s Explore Pluto and Beyond (Space Launch!). Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2007.
Simon, Tony. The Search for Planet X. New York: Basic Books, 1962.
Wetterer, Margaret. Clyde Tombaugh and the Search for Planet X. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 1996.
SOURCES OF DATA
Jet Propulsion Laboratories: jttp://ww.jpl.nasa.gov
Lang, Kenneth R. Astrophysical Formulae, vols. 1 and 2. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1999.
NASA: http://www.NASA.gov
US Naval Observatory: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/
Acknowledgments
The Pluto Files was seven years in the making. Over this time, Pluto became a topic in all conceivable media: television, radio, news articles, comics, op-eds, letters to the editor, and Internet blogs. In sleuthing and selecting the best of these contributions, I am grateful to my research assistant Alison Snyder, whose efforts easily halved the production time this book would have otherwise required. Alison further tracked down and secured permissions from all media sources herein represented, but especially from the letter writers themselves, many of whom were in elementary school when they first wrote, but are now in high school or college.
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