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Pluto is Now Just a Number: 134340
space.com — Pluto has been given a new name that reflects its new status as a dwarf planet.
starexplorer- 983 diggs
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- ePlus, on 10/12/2007, -73/+36I wonder if there is a planet 1337?
- TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -51/+13Yes, Earth
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -49/+11i'm guessing people didn't get the joke.
There are a lot of Apple stories right now so I don't think many of the people here play games. ;) - mikesherov, on 10/12/2007, -44/+7God, you're so geocentric. Typical of earthlings to think their way is best.
- furiouszebra, on 10/12/2007, -7/+54We got the joke, but it was stupid
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27"i'm guessing people didn't get the joke.
There are a lot of Apple stories right now so I don't think many of the people here play games. ;)"
You're right. We're just a bunch of business guys and secretaries at this website. We just happen to be very interested in technology.
(Gob) COME ON! (/Gob) As FuriousZebra said, it wasn't funny. - 2L84ME, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"i'm guessing people didn't get the joke.
There are a lot of Apple stories right now so I don't think many of the people here play games. ;)"
Oh yeah, I totally see the connection! - Fungo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Pluto: "Who are you?"
IAU: "The new number 2."
Pluto: "Who is number 1?"
IAU: "You are number 134340."
Pluto: "I am not a number! I am a real planet!"
IAU: "Hahahahahahahahahaha!" - decay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I feel sad for pluto :(
Poor 13w.e its number is.
- Harabeck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35The name is added, it's not a replacement. Other dwarf planets have a similar naming scheme. So, this name is only used when discussing Pluto along with other dwarf planets.
- dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Even so, this is starting to draw a deep divison between the professional astronomy group and the public as a whole. While from one side, I can understand the need to keep astronomy removed from the whim of the public, the greater problem is they're losing popular support, which inevitably cuts into funding.
I still don't agree with the overall logic they've been using, and the new rules were far more vauge than the revisions originally proposed. - Mejogid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Agreed - 'sending a probe to visit 134340' isn't really going to catch the public imagination in the same way as 'landing on Pluto'.
- syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5Let me get this straight; you think there are a significant number of non-Astronomy types who are so emotionally invested in the planet Pluto, that they're going to demand their legislators start cutting funding?
Jebus, I'd hate to see what you do when there's no toothpaste left. - roguescout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36The scientists should just give it a weird symbol and refer to it as, "The planet formerly known as Pluto".
And then tell everyone it is made of purple velvet. - Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Even so, this is starting to draw a deep divison between the professional astronomy group and the public as a whole."
This could've been said at any time in the past when new discoveries were made, and scientists had to relearn what they earlier thought was true, and worse, had tought the wide public.
Rest assured this "division" will be closed soon enough, as it's only temporary while the public has adjusted to the new science that it has had to do for hundreds of years. The division was much greater when science clashed with church and its followers as for if Earth was in the center of the universe.
This is details, small details, in comparison, and will easily be overcome.
Pluto is not even losing its name Pluto -- it is gaining a new dwarf planet code name that the public will likely neither know or have to care about, as little as they have to care about the numbers of the asteroids in the asteroid belt. - Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Agreed - 'sending a probe to visit 134340' isn't really going to catch the public imagination in the same way as 'landing on Pluto'."
Sorry, you're wrong here. Its official name changed to "134340 Pluto" and the article or at least its title is a bit misleading. This can be compared to the former asteroid (now dwarf planet) "1 Ceres". We aren't going to call that one "1" in regular speech when we aren't interested in its dwarf planet number. These dwarf planets will keep their names "Ceres" and "Pluto" respectively for use in regular speech. Actually, new discoveries will tend to follow the same standard, so future discoveries won't just have numbers either. - DiamondGtrim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@roguescout - Someone beat you to it: http://www.cafepress.com/sgwac.75653292
- dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Even so, this is starting to draw a deep divison between the professional astronomy group and the public as a whole. While from one side, I can understand the need to keep astronomy removed from the whim of the public, the greater problem is they're losing popular support, which inevitably cuts into funding.
- mywhitenoise, on 10/12/2007, -32/+1that's the same number as my mileage...can't wait til I dump that crap and get my Prius.
- CAvenger, on 10/12/2007, -5/+58"I am not a number! I am a planet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111"
- Crass22, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1gotta love the random ytmnd refrence
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -7/+65Oddly AOL user 134340 googled uranus. Coincidence? I think not.
- sxtxixtxcxh, on 10/12/2007, -20/+7they certainly did NOT google my... oh.
- Langford, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10It's still named Pluto, they can't repossess the name. Known as a number though, kinda sad really.
- Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It'll be known as "134340 Pluto" among scientists, not "134340", and in public it will be known as "Pluto". Compare to "1 Ceres". The article title here is a bit confusing. It hasn't lost its "Pluto" component even among scientists, it has gained a new dwarf planet number component due to some useful standards.
The Wikipedia article has been updated already to reflect what I'm talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto
- Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It'll be known as "134340 Pluto" among scientists, not "134340", and in public it will be known as "Pluto". Compare to "1 Ceres". The article title here is a bit confusing. It hasn't lost its "Pluto" component even among scientists, it has gained a new dwarf planet number component due to some useful standards.
- Popdmb, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20Anybody that thinks the president is the most powerful man in the country is wrong. A team of people that can give and take away a planet's "planetary status" holds a pretty sweet hand.
- Langford, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Well, it's not like the residents of Pluto fought in it's favor though.
- dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4There's a big difference between managing scientific names and being able to mobilize the whole of America's nuclear arsenal if he felt the whim. Course, both carry just about as much public favor right now.
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19>>>"Well, it's not like the residents of Pluto fought in it's favor though."
Indeed. If they're not going to bother to take an interest in local affairs, then that's their own lookout.
- simpleid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16...because pluto is a concious being capable of caring for what we think about it.
- anicejew, on 10/12/2007, -29/+3it will always be pluto to me and millions of other proud americans!!
- misteral, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Because Pluto belonged to the United States? Your statement makes no sense.
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2they saw it first, it's there's.
- sinisterkungfu, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7All of space belongs to the US, dammit!
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5misteral: Pluto was discovered by an American. The other planets were not.
- TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Yes, and gravity was discovered by an Englishman. Hopefully England doesn't get upset with us and take it away..
- twister6284, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1What makes us Americans think we're so great just because we discovered a celestial body that's so tiny for a planet? We discovered something, fine, we can take pride in that. But let's not take it too far. We should turn our gaze back toward planet Earth and focus on being great here.
- u8myfoood, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3at least now future generations wont get the no longer planet confused with the dog!
- xutopia, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5What is going to be hilarious is seeing people bicker over this for emotional reasons "But my father called it Pluto and so did my grandfather!! I demand to call it that and I want to see my children call it that!"
- sinisterkungfu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Time to go pour out a 40 for my dead homie Pluto.
- omgwut, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4w3rd
- burkay, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18As far as I am concerned, "a far far away piece of rock" does the job.
- CravenTwain, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12OK - so now we all know Pluto is a dwarf planet. The question remains; what the hell is Goofy?
- sinisterkungfu, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3I think he's a dog. Not really sure though.
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6Midgets slapping each other in a fish fight is pretty goofy, at least to me.
- mousy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2This is the fault of tall people!
- chedabob, on 10/12/2007, -19/+4dear god, do they not have anything productive to do? imagine if all of them pooled their brain power together. they could cure cancer in a day. but noooooo, they have to ***** bicker over the name of some god forsaken rock that nobody really honestly gives two flyin ***** about cos its unhospitable anyway.
- Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5If they spent their time educating you, you might know how to spell properly by now.
- chedabob, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5what? you mean because i said cos, and dropped a few Gs. ZOMG!!!!11!1!! shoot me now.
- NICU, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Yes, always an automatic negative digg for using the word 'cos'
- BlankRune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You have to understand it isn't just one object they decided this over, it's the entire organizing scheme for planetary objects for who knows how long to come. That's what science is all about.....studying and organizing.
- Sutoka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wouldn't be betting on a bunch of astronomers curing cancer any time soon...
- popltree2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14If there was an elementry school class that was learning about the planets the day before Pluto got demoted, the teacher would have to come back the next day and say something like "Yeah, you remember that ninth planet I was talking about yesterday?..."
- f0dder, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23It's ok.. just think of it as a pointer to pluto.
*134340 == pluto - manicdvln, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25George Bush doesn't care about dwarf planets.
- sinisterkungfu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9They prefer to be called "little people" these days.
- pumacub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Dwarf planets = Really fat little people
- Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hope you mean "little people with really big bones" :-p
- brdsofprey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"You must have a huge bone in your ass then" -Stan
- Djerrid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15My very excellent mother just sent us nine 134340s?
- Cl1mh4224rd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Man... kick a former planet while it's down. How cruel.
- techweenie1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2134340 aka The Dwarf Planet Formerly known as Pluto ...
- Hubris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Beat me to it.....pick a symbol, name it "The Planet Formerly Known as Pluto"
- dealsdealer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1after all ..... every dawg has its day and Pluto had it ........ (sigh)
- huhwhathuh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1You're nothing to me now, Pluto. Not a friend, not a brother, not a planet. If you come to visit our Sun, I want to know a week in advance so I won't be there...
- halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5According to Ron "Boogymonster" Gerber, from "Crap from the Past" this is:
"A bit like me telling my little brother that he's too small to be my brother. 'Sorry, but you're no longer a 'sibling', you've been reclassified as a 'Family pet.'" - HsoKinees, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1hmm.. it's a dwarf planet now? so it is /still/ a planet, but one the size of David the Gnome? XD
- metamethod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+091u70... dang... "u" has no numeric icon
- MrNate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wouldn't 9 be a more appropriate number?
- everfalling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2screw that, i'm still calling it pluto. 99% of everyone is gonna still call it pluto. ***** pointless numbers. jupiters moons get to keep their names, why can't pluto?
- Allometry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3In light of this news, perhaps Disney will rename one of the greatest duo's of all time...
From 1933:
"Mickey's Pal Pluto" to "Mickey's Pal 134340" - oneiroi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dear Pluto,
First they take away your planet status, then they try to make you just another rock in the sky, a number in the system. You'll always be more than that to me. You'll always be the planet that evolves erratically around my heart...at a far distance.
Sincerely,
me- 134340, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Thanks man, you're the best. Stop by anytime, we'll chill.
- Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Dear "me",
I feel offended by you raising my companion to the skies with your pretty words, and it angers me that so little attention is given to us other little planets looking for a goal in our celestial lives. What is so special with Pluto? Pluto's fame has thankfully finally come to an end as a classic planet, and I am happy to see Pluto, who after all is a companion to all of us of his same size, finally being seen as having a problematic classification by the science community!
Rumor is that I am next to be reclassified as a dwarf planet from having been a trans-Neptunian object, and it is not a fun wait, I can tell you! I am sure me and my little friends won't hear the end of Pluto's underserved fame the past 70 years from Tombaugh's stupid classification mistake in the 30's when they had no clue of astronomy anyway. Pah!
Sincerely,
90377 Sedna - overlordmead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Dear America,
Your contribution to the planets of the solar system sucked. Please get over it.
Signed,
The rest of the world that doesn't give a flying *****.
- 134340, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Thanks man, you're the best. Stop by anytime, we'll chill.
- jjesusfreak01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is just sick. First they say it isnt a planet, then they give it a number.........
Whats next???
Maybe they'll tell our children in schools that Pluto doesnt exist, and all that stuff about the planet Pluto their parents told them were all lies.- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I heard that Pluto's a dirty little slut.
- 134340, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm just trying to keep warm, that's all. Stop being so judgemental.
- neoncricket, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4They killed Pluto! You bastards!
- nitroskanker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yay!
- Henaro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Those scientists are assholes. Sooner or later the aliens on Pluto are going to find out and they will be pissed. Then next thing you know we will all be destroyed by aliens.
- television, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'll always call it pluto :D
- epheterson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'll miss you pluto.. to me, there will always be nine planets.
- ThisIsJames, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3so just because it gets pushed around its not a planet?
I know a bunch of people who get pushed out of their "orbits," but they don't get called 134340! - Lexomatic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Heck, even astronomers will refer to it as just 'Pluto'. People grew up being told Pluto was the ninth planet. You can not just come along and say 'hey, no more'. You'll have to wait a good 50 years before you get to a generation of astronomers (and the general population) that won't see Pluto as a planet.
- halosniper7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"You'll have to wait a good 50 years before you get to a generation of astronomers (and the general population) that won't see Pluto as a planet. "
weve already had 70 years of the astronomer part - aer0sense, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I will always call it Pluto...
- pr3998, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Plutush, you're always a star to me !!
- daSmirnov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The official name is still Pluto, this is just a catalog number. Speaker as an astronomer myself, most astronomers for the last couple of decades saw Pluto as being the odd ball out and never really considered Pluto a planet, it was always a Kuiper belt object or trans-Neptunian object.
Just as Ceres was demoted when they started finding similar objects, Pluto must also, why should Pluto be called a planet and Eris (formally 2003 UB313) not? Try getting kids to memorize all 300 planets in the solar system if this actually went ahead, we're going to find dozens and dozens of Pluto like objects, why should Pluto get a special place and all those not? - Phoenixfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh man! I fell asleep the day I was supposed to file for a patent on renaming well known planets that have been demoted to lowly numbers. I could have made a killing with that one. :)
- lindapuzhgena, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Beautiful! I'm surprised.
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