Pluto is no longer a planet. Sorry, folks, those are just the facts.
But that doesn't mean that Pluto will be a lonely exile without any friends. In fact, there are four other dwarf planets to keep it company, and maybe even more on the way.
Dwarf planets have been defined by the International Astronomical Union since 2006 as celestial bodies that are roundish like their larger cousins in the solar system, but which haven't gobbled up all the other planetesimals near themselves.
Pluto-lovers are outraged that the ninth planet in our solar system has been transformed into a mere dwarf among gas giants, but we think they're just looking at it the wrong way. There's no reason that Pluto and its four merry friends have to be just also-ran planets. They just need renaming, like Patagonian toothfish, now known as Chilean sea bass, or x86 Intel processors, which became known as Pentium.
The new name for dwarf planets need not reference their size or relation to locations like Earth and Mars. We say it's a new day and they should get a new, better name. Perhaps something like "darksiders," because they are as far out as Pink Floyd.
Yes, we know that's lame. That's why we're asking you to submit your own names for the celestial bodies formerly known as dwarf planets in the Reddit widget below.
And while you're at it, maybe you can come up with names with a bit more pizazz than Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris — the current names of Pluto's new buddies. Not that their current names are bad, but they don't seem quite as stage-ready as, say, Venus.
See Also:
- Montana Girl Wins Planet Mnemonic Contest
- Dwarf Planet Eris Proven to Be More Massive than Pluto
- State Might Make Pluto a Planet
- Wake Me in 9 Years: 9 Questions for NASA's New Horizons
- Pluto Stripped of Planet Status
- 'When I Was Your Age Pluto Was a Planet'
- Wired 14.11: Posts
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.**
