Pluto's demotion is a great opportunity for science

[nsane.forums]

I come to both bury Pluto, and to praise it—it being the decision to demote Pluto from the pantheon of planets. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union was faced with a growing collection of small, icy bodies similar in size to Pluto orbiting at the fringes of the solar system. It settled on a new way of defining what constitutes a planet, one that left Pluto and its peers demoted to dwarf status. The decision triggered outrage that continues unabated, and some have argued that the demotion given science a black eye from the public's perspective.

I'm going to argue that Pluto's demotion has actually created a fantastic opportunity to help the public understand the very nature of science itself, and connect it with a new era of discovery for the planetary sciences. But it's only an opportunity; unless the scientific community takes advantage of the chance to communicate, then we risk letting the event be portrayed as the arbitrary killing of a childhood friend.

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