Ever since the infamous 2006 reclassification of Pluto off the list of “official” planets (which had a rather incendiary effect on many of the distant world’s Earthly fans) the term “planet” has been seen by some as a variable one, difficult to define and apparently able to be given and taken away. But was Pluto ever really deserving of the title to begin with?
This fun info-animation by C.G.P. Grey suggests that it wasn’t, and offers a compelling explanation why.
[/caption]
Grey writes on his blog:
“To my constant surprise the issue of Pluto’s planetary status — which I think should be a dry technical issue — really gets people riled. But it’s also been my experience that the people who most want Pluto to be a planet know the least about it and the history of its discovery. So, I hope that this video can help correct that a little bit.”
We still love you, Pluto, no matter what you are!
See more of Grey’s excellent animations on YouTube here.
The Hubble Space Telescope has gone through its share of gyroscopes in its 34-year history…
Any event in the cosmos generates gravitational waves, the bigger the event, the more disturbance.…
During the Space Race, scientists in both the United States and the Soviet Union investigated…
The Milky Way has a missing pulsar problem in its core. Astronomers have tried to…
Space travel and exploration was never going to be easy. Failures are sadly all too…
It’s difficult to actually visualise a universe that is changing. Things tend to happen at…