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Is Pluto A Planet?

Posted by timothy on from the no-pluto-is-a-dog dept.

damiangerous writes: "This NY Times story reports the controversial decision by the American Museum of Natural History to no longer list Pluto among the planets. Although they don't actually declare Pluto's loss of planetary status outright, their newly opened planetarium classifies Pluto simply as a Kuiper Belt object. A staff member says only 1 in 10 people ask about the 'missing' planet."

1 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Not a good precident to set by hubie · · Score: 3
    I think the museum is incorrect in their position by going against the stance of the international community. The museum seems to argue that the status of Pluto is a controversial open question and they are taking what they feel is the correct side of the "controversy" (they argure that they sidestep the controversy, but in doing so they are in fact taking the side opposite the predominant scientific opinion). However, as far as the international astronomical community is concerned, there is no controversy.

    If the museum wants to take this approach, they may as well include other significant sections to the museum, such as a phrenology section when discussing current medical and psychological techniques. There are some people who still advocate phrenology, so therefore it must be a controversial subject and they should present all sides of this issue. This kind of handling of issues is just a reflection of what passes as journalism these days: no matter what issue is being presented, give equal time to an opposite opinion no matter how insignificant this opinion is considered because this is supposed to show "balanced" and "un-biased" reporting. What it does in many cases is promote very minor opinions and give them legimate status and create controversies that do not really exist.

    To present something within historical context is one thing, but an exhibit on the current state of things should reflect the current majority opinion. It might turn out that down the road the international community changes its mind about Pluto, but until then the museum should list it as one of the planets.