Pluto in the doghouse.

The remote 'planet' Pluto has been sacked
from the solar system for failing to make up
the new Planet Criteria Vis:

1/ A planet should be spherical which
implies it has sufficient mass for gravity to
make it so.

2/ A planet should orbit alone, because any
planet worthy of the name will sweep up
neighbouring rubble on to itself, clearing
the orbit path.

3/ A planet must orbit around the sun.

Reuters

Aug 24, 2006 - By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pluto's lost status
disappointed some schoolchildren and had
space museum curators scrambling but in the
words of one teenager, "It's one less planet
to memorize."

Quinn Huebner, 15, was visiting the
Smithsonian Institution's National Air and
Space Museum on Thursday when he and his
family from Mazomanie, Wisconsin, learned
international astronomers had decided Pluto
was no longer a planet.

His sister Grace, 11, also voiced relief. Had
Pluto remained a planet, at least three
similar objects could have been upgraded and
"that would mean there would be more planets
to memorize," she said.

James Zimbelman, curator of the museum's
"Explore the Planets" exhibit, said children
often inquired about what had been the solar
system's smallest planet. He said he could
accept the change.

"I can live with it," he said as he stood in
the now outdated exhibit. For now, some
labels would be added to acknowledge Pluto's
demotion, he said.

Other young visitors did their best to cope
with the demotion.

"Seriously! Pluto is not a planet?" asked
Michael O'Sullivan, 11, of Garden City, N.Y.

After a moment of thinking, he added: "At
least Pluto the dog doesn't have to compete
with the planet anymore," referring to the
Disney cartoon character named after the
planet.

Walt Disney Co spokesman Donn Walker said
"Pluto is taking this news in stride, and we
have no reason to believe he might bite an
astronomer."

Ethan Olson, an eighth-grade student from
Canfield, Ohio, said he was disappointed by
the decision.

"It's big enough to be one, I guess," he
said.

The museum will decide later how to rearrange
the exhibit and what to do about its most
important feature, "The Family of the Sun"
song.

Sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"
the song was designed to help young children
learn about and memorize the names of the
nine planets.

After watching the show, three-year-old Tyler
Roonprapunt of New York could only smile and
ask "Why?" when his mom told him he now would
have to learn a new song.






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