[Sussex] OT: Bye-bye Pluto

[Richie Jarvis]

Steven Dobson wrote:

>John and everyone
>
>On Thu, 2006-08-24 at 17:29 +0100, John Crowhurst wrote:
>  
>
>>According to the BBC news website, Pluto has lost its fight to be a planet:
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5282440.stm
>>    
>>
>
>I always knew I lived in a shrinking world, but I didn't think that I
>was living in a shrinking solar system!  Whatever next, a shrinking
>galaxy?; a shrinking universe!
>
>  
>
>>Perhaps when NASA's probe reaches it in 2015, they'll change their mind.
>>    
>>
>
>I saw a program a while back and appratently Clyde Tombaugh (no longer
>with us) was thrilled when NASA asked him if they could send a probe to
>his planet.
>
>What gets me is the definition.  Pluto isn't a star and it is probably
>massive enought to be round.  So what that it's orbit is not in the same
>plane as the (other) eight planets.  So what that it has an enlongated
>ordbit that for a very small part it brings it inside that of Neptune.
>It is still clearly in orbit around the Sun.
>
>I just wonder if, when the NASA probe get there, we finds that Pluto was
>a planet all along and that it was hit (maybe by Charon) out of it's old
>orbit and into current one.
>
>Steve
>
>
>  
>
Nope... Not gonna bite...  Oh, alright then....

The prob is that Pluto is not the biggest object in this category Steve 
- so do you classify all the other large round rocks as planets as 
well?  We would be updating the number of planets every month!