Scientists challenge Pluto's demotion
Reuters, Washington
Hundreds of US scientists have challenged a recent decision by an international astronomy group to strip Pluto of its planetary status with a petition rejecting its definition of what constitutes a planet. The astronomical insurrection shows that debate is likely to continue over the status of the icy rock at the edge of the solar system that was considered the ninth planet until a vote last week by the International Astronomical Union. Petition organiser Alan Stern said the union's decision was driven by politics, not science. "The IAU can say the sky is green all day long and that doesn't make it so," said Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "The IAU created a definition which is technically flawed, linguistically flawed and scientifically embarrassing," Stern said in a phone interview.
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Pluto (L) and its satellite Charon are seen in this 1994 image taken by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera. PHOTO: Reuters |
