Dear Internets,
[tag]Pluto[/tag] is not a [tag]planet[/tag] anymore. Get over it.
We have [tag]8 planets[/tag] now, and it doesn’t really change anything. All we need to do is to put a footnote in the new books and encyclopedias stating that Pluto is technically a [tag]dwarf planet[/tag] as of August 2006. That’s it. All of the people getting upset by this are just silly.
Here is why we needed this change: every time someone discovers a new cool looking object in the [tag]Kuipers Belt[/tag] some jackass immediately claims it should be classified as a planet because it is bigger/almost as big as Pluto. Media picks it up and for a month or two we are treated to stories about the “10th planet” or whatnot. Scientists try to clarify this, other people try to dispute them and the public gets confused. All because no one can provide a clear cut definition of the word planet that would include Pluto but not other Kuiper’s Belt objects.
Now we have a good definition, and Pluto does not make the cut, so fuck it. If that upsets your fragile romanticized conception of what the solar system should be, then tough shit.
Thank you for your time.
It’s refreshing to see someone else not freaking out about Pluto. Thanks for a little bit of rationality!