Intergalactic Planetary
Update- Kara from Life Or Something Like It brought to my attention that this site couldn't be seen in IE. So my boyfriend did some tweaking and thinks he traced it to a Blogrolling/Blogger Chicks issue. Has anyone else had problems? For awhile I temporarily removed the code but it seems that IE will load, it just takes longer to do so. I did check out a few other sites that are on the Blogger Chicks list in IE and they did seem to have the same or a similiar, problem. I don't know which version of IE they are using. I am using 6.0 to test this. If you are a Blogger Chick (or even just someone who uses IE) and have had this problem too, please let me know.
It's been a few days which may translate to old news to you, but there wasn't a good time to post this before then. And just think, everyone and their very educated mother were writing about this on Friday. So now it's fresh again!
This just in. Pluto is not, I repeat not a planet.
There's been talk about giving Pluto the boot for sometime now. But it's like the end of the world or California falling into the ocean. You figure it may happen someday, but it's outta sight, out of mind. Worrying about Pluto's status has barely been a blip on my radar.
Ironically, this is exactly what caused the demotion.
According to stuffy, intellectual astronomer types, a planet is classified as the following: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."
All of that is just fancy talk that says Pluto should hang out with planets its own size. Only those guys are not considered planets, but dwarfs. But if we're being technical, (and really, when talking about things like planet classification how can you not), they are planets. By definition they are dwarf planets along with asteroids, comets, and other natural flavors satellites.
But I'm wondering. What do you do when you've put in over sixty years of service as a planet, and then suddenly, just like that, you're demoted? And to think us humans think it's tough being canned after a few measley years of service. Nobody knows the trouble Pluto has seen.
Suddenly you're stripped of your reputation. You're like the Rodney Dangerfield of the galaxy; you can't get no respect. And forget about sprucing up the old resume. How do you dance around the fact that you aren't dancing around anything, anymore, but rather tiptoeing, along with the rest of the galaxy's misfit toys?
Not to mention the fact of what this means to educators like myself. In fact, I was at school when I first heard of the demotion. My principal came running out, all worried about what this means for the children. Every year we study the planets in depth in third grade. The kids do reports. We teach them mnemonic devices like My Very Educated Mother Jupiter Served Us Nine Pizzas, albeit that goes against what any good mother would actually do. But what do we say now? My Very Educated Mother Just Screwed Us Nouns somehow just doesn't have the same ring to it.
It was that moment I remembered that I have a huge rug in the back of my classroom that is a planetary theme. My vice principal advised putting a pillow over Pluto, but I say Pluto should not go quietly into that good night.
In the end, when you think about it, it was a lose/lose situation for educators everywhere. In one scenario, the International Astronomical Union had considered increasing the number of planets from nine to twelve. That would mean larger rugs and even longer mnemonic devices which really would defeat the purpose of why abbreviations are so great to begin with.
Yes my friends, it's time to face facts. Up is now down. Down is now up. Who knows? Maybe this is just the beginning and Belinda Carlise was right after all.
Heaven really is a place on earth.
It's been a few days which may translate to old news to you, but there wasn't a good time to post this before then. And just think, everyone and their very educated mother were writing about this on Friday. So now it's fresh again!
This just in. Pluto is not, I repeat not a planet.
There's been talk about giving Pluto the boot for sometime now. But it's like the end of the world or California falling into the ocean. You figure it may happen someday, but it's outta sight, out of mind. Worrying about Pluto's status has barely been a blip on my radar.
Ironically, this is exactly what caused the demotion.
According to stuffy, intellectual astronomer types, a planet is classified as the following: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."
All of that is just fancy talk that says Pluto should hang out with planets its own size. Only those guys are not considered planets, but dwarfs. But if we're being technical, (and really, when talking about things like planet classification how can you not), they are planets. By definition they are dwarf planets along with asteroids, comets, and other natural
But I'm wondering. What do you do when you've put in over sixty years of service as a planet, and then suddenly, just like that, you're demoted? And to think us humans think it's tough being canned after a few measley years of service. Nobody knows the trouble Pluto has seen.
Suddenly you're stripped of your reputation. You're like the Rodney Dangerfield of the galaxy; you can't get no respect. And forget about sprucing up the old resume. How do you dance around the fact that you aren't dancing around anything, anymore, but rather tiptoeing, along with the rest of the galaxy's misfit toys?
Not to mention the fact of what this means to educators like myself. In fact, I was at school when I first heard of the demotion. My principal came running out, all worried about what this means for the children. Every year we study the planets in depth in third grade. The kids do reports. We teach them mnemonic devices like My Very Educated Mother Jupiter Served Us Nine Pizzas, albeit that goes against what any good mother would actually do. But what do we say now? My Very Educated Mother Just Screwed Us Nouns somehow just doesn't have the same ring to it.
It was that moment I remembered that I have a huge rug in the back of my classroom that is a planetary theme. My vice principal advised putting a pillow over Pluto, but I say Pluto should not go quietly into that good night.
In the end, when you think about it, it was a lose/lose situation for educators everywhere. In one scenario, the International Astronomical Union had considered increasing the number of planets from nine to twelve. That would mean larger rugs and even longer mnemonic devices which really would defeat the purpose of why abbreviations are so great to begin with.
Yes my friends, it's time to face facts. Up is now down. Down is now up. Who knows? Maybe this is just the beginning and Belinda Carlise was right after all.
Heaven really is a place on earth.
<< Home