Planetary Demotion

by | Aug 25, 2006

As any student of nature can affirm, nothing is stable. Atoms, meaning, one’s odds.

image

According to this BBC story, the solar sytem is not stable.

About 2,500 scientists meeting in Prague said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.

The International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) decision means textbooks will now have to describe a Solar System with just eight major planetary bodies.

Pluto, which was discovered in 1930 by the American Clyde Tombaugh, will be referred to as a “dwarf planet”.

There is a recognition that the demotion is likely to upset the public, who have become accustomed to a particular view of the Solar System.