[Grovenet] Pluto demoted

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Wow! Talk about moving in 'high circles'. Doesn't get much higher than Pluto
and still stay in our Solar System <G>. 

Yeah, it is sad from the viewpoint of the discoverer though. And there's the
guys who named the tenth planet that brought this all to the fore again:
Xena (After the "Warrior Princess"? Maybe he should have gone for something
a little more scholarly). Actually, I understand Xena was just an "internal
code name" used before the formal announcement, but it's sure a lot easier
for us non-astronomical types to remember than "2003UB313". 

But their euphoria lasted only a few months. BTW, one of the three
discoverers was the same Mike Brown of Caltech I mentioned in an earlier
post about the cultural impact of demoting Pluto. 

This all goes to illustrate an important point about everything, I think:
Just when we think we have it figured out, we'll discover that we don't.

Something to keep in mind as I ponder why the weeds grow faster than the
grass...

Ron D'Eau Claire 


-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of allnutt
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 4:25 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Pluto demoted


My dad was a student of Clyde Tombaugh's for a short while and he was 
fascinated by the stories of the quest for the ninth planet that they knew 
should be there but hadn't yet been seen.
It will be  a blow to him to learn that Pluto is no longer a planet.

Katie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <rondec at easystreet.com>
To: "'Forest Grove local interests list'" <grovenet at rdrop.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: [Grovenet] Pluto demoted


> You are right. Pluto wasn't actually seen until 1930, although its
> existence
> was inferred from the behavior of Neptune well back into the 1800's. The
> problem was that the "big guns" of astronomy thought it would be much
> bigger. Percival Lovell searched for it fruitlessly for years and years
> through the turn of the century.
>
> It fell to an amateur astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh, to finally document 
> it photographically in 1930.
>
> Still, that's a lot of children born and raised over the past 76 
> years.
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] 
> On Behalf Of Phoenixacm at aol.com
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:55 AM
> To: grovenet at rdrop.com
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Pluto demoted
>
>
>
> If I recall correctly, Pluto was not discovered until well into the 
> 20th century, so there haven't been that many generations who grew up 
> with 9 planets. Also Ceres (now considered an asteroid) was considered 
> a planet in the
> 1800's.   As for the astrologers, they love this stuff.   The actions of
> astronomers
> are considered to reflect the consciousness of society.   Very interesting
> that Pluto, the god of the underworld, should be demoted at particular
> point
> in
> history.
>
> Jane B-P
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
> GroveNet at rdrop.com http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
> 


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