Mickey won't be happy...

[Hazzle]

The IAU called Pluto a "dwarf"

Pluto loses status as a planet
Astronomers have voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

About 2,500 scientists meeting in Prague have adopted historic new guidelines that see the small, distant world demoted to a secondary category.

The researchers said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.

The International Astronomical Union's (IAU) decision means textbooks will now have to describe a Solar System with just eight major planetary bodies.

There is a recognition that the demotion is likely to upset the public, who have become accustomed to a particular view of the Solar System.

Teary-eyed

"I have a slight tear in my eye today, yes; but at the end of the day we have to describe the Solar System as it really is, not as we would like it to be," said Professor Iwan Williams, chair of the IAU panel that has been working over recent months to define the term "planet".

The need for a strict definition was deemed necessary after new telescope technologies began to reveal far-off objects that rivalled Pluto in size.

Without a new nomenclature, these discoveries raised the prospect that textbooks could soon be talking about 50 or more planets in the Solar System.

Amid dramatic scenes in the Czech capital which saw astronomers waving yellow ballot papers in the air, the IAU voted to block this possibility - and in the process took the historic decision to relegate Pluto.

The scientists agreed that for a celestial body to qualify as a planet:

* it must be in orbit around the Sun
* it must be large enough that it takes on a nearly round shape
* it has cleared its orbit of other objects

Pluto was automatically disqualified because its highly elliptical orbit overlaps with that of Neptune. It will now join a new category of dwarf planets.

Full story here. What this means for Astrology is anyone's guess although traditional astrology has largely overlooked Pluto. Witches have also traditionally not seen it as a planet. However even modern astrologers may remain unaffected by this if they simply continue to treat Pluto as a planet anyway. May explain why whenever you read your horoscope it comes true two or three days later. That's the margin of error caused by Pluto . For a view on how this affects horoscopes:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060824/...uto_science_dc

[Swordsman]

Galactus wouldn't even bother with Pluto. He was aaaaall about Earth.

[Liam]

Haha, astrologers.

[Immortal]

Old/10

[Hazzle]

The article is dated 3 days ago you cunt.

Yes, the whole "Pluto isn't a planet" theory was around for a while, but it's only become official this week.

Then again so many of the planets aren't "planets". Mars is a chocolate bar...

[MrPink]

i'm over it

[Hazzle]

It's just a shame that Uranus still doesn't bring up the rear...

[MrPink]

hehe, joker

[Swordsman]

Galactus would eat Uranus but only in the heat of the moment.