Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Update on Pluto

Pluto is a planet once again, at least on Feb. 18 in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

The House voted unanimously this morning to pass Rep. Joni Gutierrez' House Memorial 40, which declares Feb. 18 "Pluto as a Planet Day."

Gutierrez carried the memorial -- as she has in the past -- because Pluto’s discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, is from Dona Ana County. He died in 1997.

Here's something in the memorial that I didn't know: "...approximately one ounce of (Tombaugh's) ashes is being carried on the New Horizons spacecraft that was launched in 2006 and that is scheduled for a fly-by of Pluto in 2014."

Most astronomers no longer consider Pluto a planet.

As loyal readers of this blog know, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson poked fun at New Mexico on The Daily Show last month because of a similar Pluto memorial two years ago.

What the heck. Let's rerun that video.
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