I should've realized this IAU resolution was coming. A couple of weeks ago, when Lucia and I went to see Nancy Stewart at Pottery Barn Kids, I noticed a planet-mobile on display. "Hurrah!" I said. "Here's a fine addition for Lucia's room. Never mind that it costs $39.00 USD. We can skimp on the caviar bill, after all. But wait a minute..."
I counted eight planets plus the Sun.
"Where's Pluto?" I ranted. "And why is there no attempt to represent the planets to scale? Jupiter is 3/4 the size of the Sun, and the gas giants are all the size of Jupiter." In a rage, I ripped the planet-mobile from the ceiling. The security guards had to drag me away to a quiet room where I could sip weak tea and gather my senses together. No one pressed charges, but in an ironic twist of circumstances, Brad the Gorilla was the one who had to come and make sure I had a safe ride home. Meanwhile, Lucia was still enjoying the Nancy Stewart concert, oblivious to my planet-induced meltdown.
Thus, when I read the headlines this morning, I had already worked through my freak-out phase and arrived at a quiet acceptance of eight planets in the Solar System. My song will be shorter. So much for "Planet Hoppers: The Opera."
Just between you and me, I'm relieved.
4 comments:
I actually posted about this today. Don't despair; "Tombaugh's Objects Hopper" has a certain j'nai cest quois, (spelled hrribly worng I'm sure), to it.
When I read about this I freaked out a little bit, too, until someone calmed me down with "science is ever-evolving." Change can be good, although I would have LOVED the opera.
Neat icon, Lady K! If I'm going to write an opera, by the way, I need a music-writing partner, hem hem.
Limpy99: We must persevere, though it really does take the wind out of one's sails to see a picture of Pluto next to a picture of Earth's Moon.
I was actually excited about this news. Pluto has always been the red-haired stepchild of the solar system, leeching off Neptune and generally being boring. Plus, now my son won't have to memorize so many planets.
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