Should we still be having this argument about whether or not Pluto is a planet? Is this a scientific duel, or more the earlier generation complaining that they still want to use the mislabeled name brontosaurus rather than Apatosaurus? I am fine with the 2006 decision to make Pluto a dwarf planet, but some at
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics are still debating the topic. Last month, after hearing a debate among three leading experts in
planetary science, the audience voted and decided that Pluto is still a Planet. While this settles nothing, it was still a good debate (you can see it on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/user/ObsNights).
I am more interested in labeling exoplanets rather than relabeling our neighbors, but I do not expect this issue to die anytime soon. So while the local debate continues, I hope the telescopes will be trained on much more distant matters as we ponder the wild and strange universe.
