New
way of thinking meets old teachings
Brooke
Tacker
“When
pigs fly,” “when worms grow ears,” “when
hell freezes over,” and now “when Pluto is a planet,”
are all expressions one can choose when trying to get the
“yeah right” point across.
Pluto was stripped of its planetary title Thursday, Aug. 24.
This is when the International Astronomical Union changed
the definition of a planet, inadvertently pushing Pluto out
of the top loop and down to the level of dwarf planet.
A planet is a celestial body that orbits the sun, round or
nearly round in shape and has cleared debris and other bodies
from its orbital path, according to the new definition printed
in the Columbia Missourian from the International Astronomical
Union. Pluto does not meet the bar in the “orbital path”
part of this definition. Its only fault is that Pluto crosses
into Neptune’s orbit on its annual trip around the sun.
This change in our map of our galaxy stirred up many emotions.
“It’s actually kind of sad when you think about
it,” MU student, Kenze Rumble said.
This generation of college students grew up learning about
the nine planets in science class. We made clay models and
Styrofoam mobiles hooked on clothes hangers of the solar system.
“Pluto was my favorite planet,” MU student, Allan
Thompson said.
This opinion was held by many students who went through elementary
school learning the phrase “My Very Excellent Mother
Just Served Us Nine Pizzas,” as a pneumonic device that
helped them learn the order of the planets.
I always enjoyed learning about Pluto because it was the smallest
planet and as a child I thought smaller meant cuter. When
I was in fourth grade, we had to do a project with a partner
on a planet and before my partner and I could even get to
the sheet of paper to sign up, Pluto was already taken. Pluto
is also a loveable Disney character, so many children favor
it because it shares its name with Mickey Mouse’s loyal
dog.
As another student put it, what are we going to tell our children
when we are helping them with their homework? What if they
ask us how many planets there are, will our minds automatically
disregard Pluto?
Every generation has something that sets it apart. The baby
boomers get to claim man walking on the moon and we will always
think of Pluto as a planet, just as everyone before Christopher
Columbus thought the world was flat.
Scientists should be willing to reclassify objects if they
learn new information that shows they are different than originally
believed, Angela Speck, assistant professor of astronomy in
physics and astronomy said.
I agree that with new information should come a willingness
to accept this information, but something inside me, and many
others, will not let us let go of our childhood memories and
connections with Pluto. Our understanding of the world we
live in changes all the time to adapt to new discoveries,
but our minds will never forget what we once thought we knew.
I guess our children will never know exactly nine of what
my very excellent mother just served us.
