Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Pluto Is Still Pretty Upset

Pluto_hubble1

Pluto -- the celestial body, not the cartoon dog -- is still pretty upset about losing its planetary status a couple of years ago. If you didn't hear about this, Pluto, which since its discovery in 1930 had been considered the smallest and most distant planet in our solar system, in 2006 was reclassified as a 'dwarf planet', a new category that includes similarly-sized bodies like Eris and Ceres.

Not surprisingly, being relegated was pretty upsetting to Pluto, as well as to Charon, its moon, both of which had grown accustomed to their planetary status, mainly because it gave them access to the best parties. And to be frank, Pluto and Charon's melancholy still hasn't subsided, although the heavy drinking and compensatory late night carousing have tapered off.

To help forget the pain, Pluto and Charon are actually planning on taking a pottery class, and they've even been entertaining the idea of doing a little traveling -- perhaps to Earth, in order to exact some revenge on the astronomers responsible for the demotion.
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