Pluto was discovered in 1930, well within Gustav Holst’s lifetime (1874-1934). But he had no interest composing an additional movement for that planet, having completed his symphonic masterpiece, The Planets, some 14 years earlier (it was first performed in 1918).
This is fortunate because if he had done so, the decision by the International Astronomical Union to strip Pluto of its planetary status and to downgrade it to a "dwarf planet" might impel a more strait-laced concert programmer to expunge that segment from the repertoire.
Yes, size matters. The reason Pluto is being humiliated is that it is deemed too small to justify its royal status. Poor Pluto now has to join the riff raff of dwarf planets.
The expulsion of Pluto from the family of planets has caused a sun storm within the scientific and educational communities. Textbooks have to be rewritten. Billions of students, who learned there are nine planets, will have to be re-educated. Those who were failed because they gave the answer as eight will probably have to live with this injustice.
Exhibitions of the solar system have to be changed, with one exception. The Singapore Science Centre has ordered a stay of execution and decided not to void Pluto out of the current exhibition of the solar system. However, the explanatory notes are hastily being modified to describe Pluto’s fall from grace. Perhaps we could help in the rewriting: "We regret that restructuring the heavenly bodies has led to the downsizing of our dearly beloved Pluto."
Cassie Sherman had written “Planet Song,” to be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." She sings, "I know the planets one by one / Pluto's the farthest one from the sun."
Perhaps one might want to update this song?
Article comments
1 - Plutonians
Outraged plutonians address our nations.
Hello, here's what plutonians have to say about what happened.
www.messagefrompluto.com
Please give your feedback.
2 - Dave Nalle
Many Very Energetic Men Jumped Suddenly Upon Nothing
There's your new mnemonic for you.
And now Uranus is one step closer to truly being the ass-end of nowhere.
Dave
3 - PoizonMyst
I think people will accept the decision in time. Regardless, it was not only the size of Pluto that saw its demotion from the planet class ... there were many more reasons behind this decision. As for text-books and scientific material, all would have required rewriting anyway due to the discovery of 2003 UB313 - and if we had kept Pluto as a planet and decided not to add UB313 to the ranks, how were we going to explain that to our school children? If we added UB313, there is a good chance many more large Kuiper belt objects could be discovered and the list of "Planets" would experience exponential growth. This was a good decision by the IAU - humanity will adapt.
4 - Ken Lyen
Postscript: The Singapore Science Centre has reversed its decision and has extirpated Pluto from the current exhibition of the solar system. While it is true that nobody will shed a tear, and in time, few people will remember Pluto, please allow the more sentimental among us to pause for a moment and give a sigh. A lament that definitions, rigid classifications, and conformity are more important than nonconformity, history, and poetry.