(Photo courtesy of NASA)


Pluto, we hardly knew ye

I feel a bit like the student at King-Danforth Elementary, who was quoted in our paper the other day after hearing the Pluto had been demoted from planetary status.

“I don’t care if Pluto is not a planet any more,’’ said the youngster. “Pluto never did anything for me.’’

I second that emotion. I can’t remember the last time I even thought about Pluto. Its average distance from the Earth is almost 3.7 billion miles, so we’re not exactly neighbors. Can't just drop in and borrow a cup of sugar.

However, there is an uprising of schoolchildren who are crushed that Pluto didn’t quite measure up to the other eight planets, even though it does have its own moon. They are apparently aware Pluto is more than Mickey Mouse's dog, it's the underdog of the galaxy.

Me? I stopped worrying about Pluto in about the seventh grade. It’s just wobbling out there in the nosebleed section. I do have a telescope, but it's not powerful enough to find that little speck out there in the night sky. I wouldn't know which direction to look, anyway.

Pluto could have dropped out of the galaxy 10 years ago, and I never would have known it.

The other planets have always gotten top billing. I’ve seen Venus, the lovely evening star. Mars is by far the most popular planet. Saturn is the coolest looking. And, for all the punsters, Uranus is the ... er, butt of many jokes.

Now, some 25,000 scientists worldwide have spoken. The little guy has been purged.

We’ve seen all the clever headlines. Mutiny in the Milky Way. Eight is Enough. We’ve heard every adjective. Ostracized. Black-balled. Didn’t make the cut.

I’m not going to shed any tears or lose sleep about it. Don't you think we have enough problems with our own planet to be worried about the others?