Comments on: BOOK REVIEW: The Pluto Files – The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet http://www.ilovecynics.com/?p=163 Some freakin' catchphrase goes here, right? Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:07:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Roger Asbury http://www.ilovecynics.com/?p=163&cpage=1#comment-44856 Roger Asbury Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:48:20 +0000 http://www.ilovecynics.com/?p=163#comment-44856 Laurel, thanks for your comments. I didn't mean to imply the debate had ended. My apologies if that's how it came across. I'll look for your book when it comes out. I'm most certainly no expert, but I find this kind of thing fascinating. Laurel, thanks for your comments. I didn’t mean to imply the debate had ended. My apologies if that’s how it came across.

I’ll look for your book when it comes out. I’m most certainly no expert, but I find this kind of thing fascinating.

]]> By: Laurel Kornfeld http://www.ilovecynics.com/?p=163&cpage=1#comment-44852 Laurel Kornfeld Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:25:39 +0000 http://www.ilovecynics.com/?p=163#comment-44852 All is definitely NOT ended when it comes to the status of Pluto. At this point, even Tyson is distancing himself from the IAU demotion, which he accurately describes as "flawed." At the recent Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, he admitted that it may be too early in the evolution of planetary science for us to be defining the term planet. The IAU demotion was done by only four percent of its members, most of whom are not planetary scientists, and was opposed by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. The IAU definition makes no sense in stating that dwarf planets are not planets at all and in classifying objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. That is why there are efforts underway to either overturn the demotion of Pluto or to ignore it altogether. This debate is far from over. I plan on writing my own book about Pluto within the next few years. All is definitely NOT ended when it comes to the status of Pluto. At this point, even Tyson is distancing himself from the IAU demotion, which he accurately describes as “flawed.” At the recent Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, he admitted that it may be too early in the evolution of planetary science for us to be defining the term planet.

The IAU demotion was done by only four percent of its members, most of whom are not planetary scientists, and was opposed by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto.

The IAU definition makes no sense in stating that dwarf planets are not planets at all and in classifying objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. That is why there are efforts underway to either overturn the demotion of Pluto or to ignore it altogether.

This debate is far from over. I plan on writing my own book about Pluto within the next few years.

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