FRIENDS OF PLUTO PROTEST IAU DECISION

“SIZE DOESN’T MATTER”

September 2, 2006 (AP/PNN) Friends and colleagues of the late Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto, gathered on the New Mexico State University campus to protest the International Astronomical Union's recent decision to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

About 50 students and staff members turned out Friday for the good-natured challenge. Some were wearing T-shirts and carrying signs that read "Protest for Pluto" and "Size Doesn't Matter." Tombaugh's widow, Patricia, and their son, Al Tombaugh, also participated. NMSU astronomer Bernie McNamara told the crowd that textbooks shouldn't be rewritten. "Why not? Because the debate is not over," McNamara said. McNamara argued that only about 400 of the union's thousands of members were present when the IAU’s August 24 vote to strip Pluto of its planetary status was taken. "This was not a statement by the astronomical community at large," he said, adding that a petition opposing the IAU definition of a planet is circulating among the world's planetary scientists and astronomers.

ASTRONOMERS REJECT DEMOTION OF PLUTO

August 31, 2006 (PNN) Hundreds of Planetary Scientists and Astronomers have signed a special petition denouncing the IAU’s flawed definition of the word “Planet” and are pledging not to use it! In a press release announcing the petition, organizer Dr. Mark Sykes, director of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, stated: “This petition gives substantial weight to the argument that the IAU definition of planet does not meet fundamental scientific standards and should be set aside.”  Dr. Sykes went on to say, “A more open process, involving a broader cross section of the community engaged in planetary studies of our own solar system and others should be undertaken.”

Help stand up for maverick planets everywhere.  Sign the petition and spread the word to your friends.