This Day in History, 2006: Pluto Demoted

[mabfan]

Exactly one year ago today, the International Astronomical Union, at their General Assembly in Prague, voted to demote Pluto from planet to dwarf planet.

(An excellent post about the public's reaction since can be found at The Enduring Power of Pluto.)

Comments

[ffoeg.livejournal.com]

I'm struggling with this as my son is old enough to start learning about the planets and stuff. (Not rigorously, but picture books and the like.) Do I tell him that his book is wrong, or that the Justin Roberts song "Nine Planets" is wrong, and there's only eight? Do I tell him about the debate? It's all too confusing for a four-year-old.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

When I read a book about the planets to my daughter's kindergarten class last year, when the book (and I) referred to Pluto and a planet, it sparked a debate among the five year olds, many of whom were aware of the misruling by the IAU.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

It'll be even more confusing once Pluto, Eris, and Ceres get recognized as planets.

[introverte.livejournal.com]

My six year old knows all about the controversy. Last week, he went to a camp that focused on astronomy, and one day after camp he made up a protest sign (with creative spelling) that read: Pluto Ought to be a Planet.

His four year old sister doesn't have quite as sophisticated a grasp, but she does know that Pluto is a "little planet" and that some people disagree on what it should be called.