• 22nd March 2007 - By chrislintott

    New Mexico is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, but I’d be careful about saying I was an astronomer around there right now. They’re so upset about the demotion of Pluto (discovered by local Clyde Tombaugh) that their senate has decided that it will be a planet when it passes through their airspace.

  • 4 Comments to “Pluto in New Mexico”

    • Maile on March 22, 2007

      Well, its not all that surprising, after all, US congress was able to change time! So why not the status of a planet if only intermittently?

      Daylight Savings three weeks early….who would have thought?

    • Andy Lawrence on March 22, 2007

      The California Assembly has debated an even better bill, although one suspects it is a tad tongue in cheek here and there .. here are some extracts :

      “WHEREAS, Pluto, named after the Roman God of the underworld and affectionately sharing the name of California’s most famous animated dog, has a special connection to California history and culture; and

      WHEREAS, Downgrading Pluto’s status will cause psychological harm to some Californians who question their place in the universe and worry about the instability of universal constants; and

      WHEREAS, The deletion of Pluto as a planet renders millions of text books, museum displays, and children’s refrigerator art projects obsolete, and represents a substantial unfunded mandate that must be paid by dwindling Proposition 98 education funds, thereby harming California’s children and widening its budget deficits; and”

      Great stuff. I am abit worried that the IAU subscription will need to go up to pay for those altered Californian textbooks…

    • Alice Sheppard on March 23, 2007

      Didn’t Indiana state once pass a ruling that the value of pi is four, meaning that for a start clocks would gain about 15 minutes every hour? Must re-read The Book of Heroic Failures.

    • Paul on March 28, 2007

      I’d love to know since when New Mexico’s air space has extended 4 billion miles into the solar system. Or even New Mexico’s air, come to that! :-)

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