Posted AT 4:19 AM EST on 25/08/06
Pluto demoted to dwarf status
My Very Excellent Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets no longer works as a memory trick for students learning about the solar system now that the world's astronomers have decided Pluto is not a planet.
The decision, taken yesterday at the International Astronomical Union's general assembly in Prague, is based on science, many astronomers say, not the emotional attachment both amateur and professionals star-gazers feel for Pluto as part of the solar system's familiar inner circle.
The full text of this article has 720 words.
To continue reading this article, you will need to purchase this article.
Already have a member account? Login now
Pay-Per-View Offers To read the complete article, select one of the following options
Purchasing from globeandmail.com is quick and secure.
In Pictures
- Into the teeth of the storm
- Hurricane hunters ply risky trade to try to solve mystery of weather
Video Picks
- Into the wild
- Remote camera catches rare up-close images of bears, wolverines in the wild
- Rare rhino caught on tape
- Rare footage of the world's most threatened rhino shows it charging a hidden camera in Indonesia
- Fading flowers?
- New research suggests pollution is changing the way flowers smell
- Thames seahorses rebound
- Despite almost vanishing because of pollution, seahorses are now back and thriving in London's Thames River
Spectrum
- Smokin' roaches
- The sexual habits of male Madagascar hissing cockroaches
2
-
Video:
Smokin' roaches
Weird science
- Even platypus's genome is extraordinary
- Scientists say newly mapped platypus genome could help explain evolution
22
