NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Paul Dolkas
Date: 2017 Feb 17, 10:16 -0800
All-
I agree with the bemusement. A “minor planet” is still a planet. It says so in the name. It’s just not a big one.
Paul Dolkas
From: NavList@fer3.com [mailto:NavList@fer3.com] On Behalf Of Robin Stuart
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 7:59 AM
To: paul@dolkas.net
Subject: [NavList] Re: The Solar System 1824, 11 planets shown
Frank,
I continue to be surprised by the passion that the status of Pluto arouses even amongst otherwise rational individuals. I attended a talk by Alan Stern, the principal investigator on the New Horizons mission, at the North East Astronomy Forum (NEAF) last year. When asked about Pluto’s reclassification he became very serious and said that he considered in an insult to the memory of Clyde Tombaugh (discoverer of Pluto) or words to that effect.
Pluto’s “demotion” places it in with the Kuyper belt objects where it clearly belongs. That then makes Tombaugh the discoverer of the Kuyper belt which seems to me is a much loftier and far reaching accolade and can’t see why Stern would want to deny him that honour,
Regards,
Robin
