O Planet, What Art Thou

Does this whole business about Pluto strike anyone else as kind of weird? None of this debate has any bearing on the origin, physical characteristics, or behavior of Pluto. It's just a debate over whether or not you call Pluto a planet, or I guess more accurately, whether what you call a planet is defined to include Pluto.

Lewis Carroll is tangential but I think instructive here.

It's a bit surprising how intensely people want to anthropomorphize Pluto: really, it's just a hunk of icy rock, not some kind of scrappy underdog. And I like that this AP article makes certain to note that NASA's not, you know, changing its plans for a Pluto probe that's already on the way there. "Call 'er back, boys, it's not a planet any more! Better cut our losses while we can."

I'm betting that the irrelevence to scientific pursuit is what caused the low turnout among astronomers in a position to vote at that convention.

I won't miss Pluto too much, but, you know, it's still out there. And there's some elegance in that Holst's Planets suite is comprehensive again.