Monday, June 29, 2009

Pluto & Grown-ups


Mommy, if I went up into space, by the time I got to Pluto would I be a grown-up?


GIRL aged 4 and counting...


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11 comments:

  1. She does know that Pluto is not a planet anymore, right? That bums my kids out tremendously . . .

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  2. Sweet...She would surely be grown...but we just don't know many things...I'm sure she will investigate more as she grows.

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  3. Cute.

    I have to admit that I was really distracted by the healthy snacks. I always served my kids play doh and graham crackers.

    What? They were going to eat it anyway. :)

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  4. Looks like a lovely party. I especially like the crown and rings.

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  5. Girl thinks deep thoughts. I don't know if Pluto could handle her.

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  6. Kids don't need to be "bummed out" because Pluto still IS a planet. Only four percent of the IAU voted on the controversial demotion, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. One reason the IAU definition makes no sense is it says dwarf planets are not planets at all! That is like saying a grizzly bear is not a bear, and it is inconsistent with the use of the term “dwarf” in astronomy, where dwarf stars are still stars, and dwarf galaxies are still galaxies. Also, the IAU definition classifies objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were in Pluto’s orbit, according to the IAU definition, it would not be a planet either. A definition that takes the same object and makes it a planet in one location and not a planet in another is essentially useless. Pluto is a planet because it is spherical, meaning it is large enough to be pulled into a round shape by its own gravity--a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium and characteristic of planets, not of shapeless asteroids held together by chemical bonds. These reasons are why many astronomers, lay people, and educators are either ignoring the demotion entirely or working to get it overturned. I am a writer and amateur astronomer and proud to be one of these people. You can read more about why Pluto is a planet and worldwide efforts to overturn the demotion on my Pluto Blog at http://laurele.livejournal.com

    You can find Stern's petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/planetprotest/ and you can find transcripts of an official conference held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in August 2008, the Great Planet Debate, which presented both sides of this ongoing debate, at http://gpd.jhuapl.edu/

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  7. Please teach your young whipper snapper some manners. Little girls are not supposed to ask questions that overly educated readers can't answer.

    And geeze, she really asked that?

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  8. *laugh*
    hey hey, that's a logical question, isn't it?
    Its far from earth, alright, but errrmmmm... not that far I guess.
    *laugh*

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  9. Adorable AND smart! That girl is going places!

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