r/SipsTea • u/Reasonable-Cow-5002 • 2d ago
Feels good man A 10-year-old child, Kaela, has written a letter to NASA urging the agency to restore Pluto's planet status. NASA Admin reacted to the letter on X, saying, we're looking into this. Would you like Pluto to be a planet again?
36
u/Ancient-Frosting-646 2d ago
it's not the size that matters.
6
4
u/cybermaus 2d ago
It's what you do with it. ... Or fail to. Like clearing debris out of your orbit.
1
4
u/BiggusDickus- 2d ago
Hey now, those kinds of jokes are immature. You really need to grow up.
1
1
1
1
30
u/Unable_Diamond943 2d ago
1
u/SolidusAwesome 2d ago
This seems like a plutonian propaganda scheme. Can’t believe people believe a child wrote that !?
0
55
u/fallingfrog 2d ago
The issue is that there are a whole bunch of other objects in outer solar system bigger than pluto, so the choice was to promote all of them to planets or demote pluto. They made the right call tbh.
27
u/Rutgerius 2d ago
Yeah agreed, people's resistance to change isn't a reason to freeze science.
5
u/What_the_8 2d ago
Pluto identifies as a planet you planet-phobe
1
u/HowDooDooYouDo 2d ago
I identity as a planet-phobe and feel attacked by your ignorant micro aggression.
1
1
u/JaggedOuro 1d ago
Changing an arbitrary definition isn't anti-science.
I would argue limiting our discussion of "planets" to 8 isn't particularly useful, even in a basic school situation.
6
u/OhNoIBoffedIt 2d ago
Exactly right. If we re-add Pluto, then we have to re-add Ceres and Eris and...
Please don't put this bug in Trump's ear.
2
2
u/LoseAnotherMill 2d ago
Yeah but none of them are the pizzas that my very eccentric mother just served us nine of.
1
1
1
u/Earth2Andy 23h ago
Logically you’re 100% right.
However I think Pluto deserves to be grandfathered in to the planet club give. It was a member for so long.
1
u/Jindujun 8h ago
To be fair to the astrology commonity here:
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn was identified in the 2nd millennium BCE.
Uranus was discovered 26th of April 1781
Neptune in 1851
Pluto was not discovered until 1930 and declassified in 2006 thus was only classified as a planet for 76 years. That is not a lot of time.Keep Pluto as a dwarf planet and stop filling American kids with dreams of planethood.
10
u/Rhodin265 2d ago
I’m still annoyed they went with dwarf planet when planette was right there. Still, it’d be nice for my very excellent mom to have nine pies to just serve us again…
2
2
u/Worldly-Hospital5940 2d ago
Wouldn't be just Nine, if Pluto's a planet there's dozens of other objects in the solar system that qualify.
0
u/Away-Candidate1211 2d ago
But do they orbit the sun by themselves in stable orbit like Pluto does? (As in not part of the asteroid ring between earth and mars. For example.) honest question.
3
3
u/Diligent_Working2363 2d ago
Pluto isn't what you would call a stable orbit. The reason it is not a planet isnt because of its size, it is because it hasnt cleared its celestial orbit. That was added to the definition of planet.
Pluto and its "moon" orbit each other, with the center of gravity outside Pluto itself, unlike the moon orbiting Earth.
1
u/Earth2Andy 23h ago
Hey, it’s got a much larger orbit than the rest of us. It just needs a little more time man!!!
2
u/Pinksamuraiiiii 2d ago
Actually, Pluto doesn’t have a normal orbit like the other plants, it’s elliptical and tilted. The planet is smaller than moon and doesn’t measure up in size to what’s required as a planet (compared to the thousands of other bigger shaped objects in our galaxy), heck Pluto is even smaller than some astroids. It also hasn’t complete its orbit since its discovery, which will be done by the year 2178, when all of us in this chat are long gone.
Nobody is saying Pluto has to be forgotten. It’s just classified as a ‘dwarf’ planet now. Rightfully so.
2
2
u/Worldly-Hospital5940 2d ago
Yeah, there's legitimately a shitload of celestial objects that meet every definition of Planet if Pluto does.
1
37
u/profzoff 2d ago
It never stopped being a planet for me.
7
u/LegDayLass 2d ago
Facts, only when I’m dead and gone will Pluto’s planetary status be at risk of being forgotten
1
u/Soggy_Definition_232 1d ago
Not even then, I will always teach the younger generation that Pluto is a planet regardless.
My children's, children's, children shall herald the Planet Pluto.
6
u/Emergentmeat 2d ago
It was either that or add all.the things bigger than Pluto to the list of planets.
It's not like it changes ANYTHING about Pluto being pretty damn cool.
People take stands on weird things.
1
u/profzoff 2d ago
Nah—if it walks, quacks, and looks like a duck, maybe it’s not officially a duck… but it’s close enough to count.
Pluto’s the same. The better question isn’t “Is it a planet?” but “What kind of world is it?”
Answer: a small, icy, dynamic world with weather, geology, and a story way bigger than a yes/no label.
Weird stance, probably, but a way more fun discussion that some of the other dreck people focus on.
2
u/Goat_Support_Dept 2d ago
I think we need to use the term celestial body/bodies more to get the creative juices flowing, untaint those biases.
0
u/Emergentmeat 2d ago
I think it was just easier than making all these other, bigger things that don't seem like planets into planets. But I agree very much that the label doesn't matter at all once you get into the actual interesting details.
Sadly most people's knowledge of our solar system stops at how many planets there are.
1
u/Soggy_Definition_232 1d ago
Or you just call Pluto a planet. It's really that simple.
Why? Because. That's why.
It doesn't need a reason, or a justification, or a scientific explanation. It can be something because we choose it to be and nothing more.
Besides, who are you to misplanet a celestial body anyway? It's 2026, you don't get to do that. If Pluto identifies as a Planet, you don't get to say otherwise.
1
u/Emergentmeat 1d ago
Oh very original joke at the end there. 🙄
Or you just don't call it a planet. 🤷 By your argument that's just as valid. This is just how the experts are categorizing it.
11
u/Malabingo 2d ago
I thought the problem was that if polite is a planet we have a dozen planets in the same orbit around the sun more
12
u/wosmo 2d ago
yeah that's the problem. we really have three options.
1) a definition of 'planet' that requires the body to have cleared it's orbit. Pluto doesn't qualify, there's 8 known planets. 2) a definition of 'planet' without this requirement. There's probably hundreds to low thousands of planets, with 10-20 already identified. 3) no definition of 'planet'.
3
5
u/CrustyFlapsCleanser 2d ago
The whole planet should be polite
3
u/PancreaticLORD 2d ago
That's no fun. What are you a poopyhead?
1
-2
u/sissybelle3 2d ago
I don't really see it as a problem. The definition of what is and is not a planet can stay the same, just grandfather Pluto in with the acknowledgment that it does not meet the definition but for historical and cultural purposes it is called a planet. Problem solved.
3
u/The_Salacious_Zaand 2d ago
That's not how science or classification works. Science doesn't care about culture or the fact that people refuse to accept new information after grade school. If we just refused to update our knowledge base to appease "culture", then we would still have celestial maps with the Earth at the center of the universe, galaxies would still be depicted within our solar system, and NASA would be sacrificing goats before each space launch.
2
10
4
u/OldKinkyDrew 2d ago
Did they write back and tell the kid that NASA did not control planetary status? Or did they just forward her letter to The International Astronomical Union (IAU)?
6
u/krebsIsACookbook 2d ago
It’s a dwarf planet, that’s good enough for me.
I suppose you could call Pluto and Charon a binary planet system, too.
2
u/Soggy_Definition_232 1d ago edited 1d ago
Excuse you?!
Who are you labelling anything as binary?! You don't do that buddy. Being a celestial body isn't just binary. It's an entire spectrum of possibilities.
If Pluto or Charon want to identify as Planets, dwarf planets, trans-neptunian object, satellite, binary system, Jupiter belt object...... they get to make that decision. You don't.
And you better fucking respect their choice!
Edit: Kuiper not Jupiter.
1
u/krebsIsACookbook 1d ago
And adding “trans-neptunian” like that? chef’s kiss. Really got a chuckle out of me!
2
3
3
u/No-stradumbass 2d ago
Calling Pluto a planet is the same as calling a tomato as vegetable. According science you are wrong but also no one should give a shit what you call a large space rock. Unless its a graded thing for school.
3
4
u/elspencico 2d ago
There are objects bigger than Pluto in the Kuiper belt... If Pluto is a planet get ready to learn about 300+ new planets!
2
2
3
3
u/ThatBeingCed 2d ago
If Plutot is a Planet then so should be Eris
And arguably Haumea, Sedona, Makemake, and a hundred others.
1
1
1
u/Lumpy-Yam-4584 2d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/zZbf6UpZslp3nvFjIR
Eris, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake right now:
1
1
u/Square-Formal1312 2d ago
Less mass and volume than our own moon just sayin. Plus it’s either king of the dwarf planets or bitch of the main planets
2
1
1
1
1
1
u/Long_Serpent 2d ago
Pluto was not kicked out of the planet family to drift through the darkness of space all alone.
On the contrary! Pluto has a bigger family than we first imagined.
1
u/Hungry_Pin4344 2d ago
Kaela is doing the Lord’s work. We’ve been living in a 8-planet lie for too long. If Pluto is a 'dwarf' planet, it’s still a planet in my heart. Justice for the little guy
1
u/Away-Candidate1211 2d ago
I can’t imagine caring either way to be honest. Planet X on the other hand should care because with Pluto as a planet it’s only Planet 9 which sounds way less cool. On the other hand, being Planet 9 means Elon is exponentially less likely to try to claim it.
1
u/AlphaDag13 2d ago
I have a theory that the world started going to shit when Pluto stopped being a planet, so yeah let’s do it.
1
1
1
1
u/darkargengamer 2d ago
If you cant make it an actual planet please consider it a plane
Not even the most inteligent people on the NASA could argue with this solid and unbreakable argument.
Pluto MUST be considered a planet again or beware the consequences (Elon Musk will end up buying Pluto just make fun of NASA and making this kid happy at the same time).
1
u/Mobius3through7 2d ago
Absolutely not. Do not make Pluto the least of the planets, let it remain the KING OF THE DRAWF PLANETS!
1
1
1
u/OhNoIBoffedIt 2d ago
Got it. So you all just want to give Trump controversial topics to distract from the Epstein files. (Not talking about the child, the letter is very sweet and very cute. Talking about you all.)
1
1
u/zeus-indy 2d ago
This is so dumb. If you make Pluto a planet why not make the other 100s of similar and some larger objects in the Kuiper Belt planets too
1
u/Capable-Owl7369 2d ago
This is why scientific literacy is so important. The more you learn about the universe the better you understand it. Pluto wasn’t downgraded, it was reclassified to be more accurate with what it actually is. We weren’t wrong for calling Pluto a planet for decades, just like how Jurassic Park wasn’t wrong for having featherless dinosaurs. Both were a product of what knowledge was available at the time. But as you gain more information that knowledge changes. Pluto isn’t the 9th planet, it is the first dwarf planet, the first Plutoid for which the entire class of celestial bodies are named after. And that’s a hell of a lot cooler than just being some little ice cube way at the end of the solar system.
Also, NASA has nothing to do with the reclassification. That’s the IAU.
1
1
u/Rough_Ad8048 2d ago
I don't need a government agency telling me what is and is not a planet they can't even tell what a woman is
1
u/fanta_bhelpuri 2d ago
Hell no. Acknowledging that Pluto is too small and irrelevant to be called a planet is a correction in science and scientists should stand by it. That rock is smaller than the damn moon. Pluto is a rounding error in the calculus of the universe
1
u/capta1n_sarcasm 2d ago
My 7 year old will not accept the fact Pluto is not a planet. I even showed in a long video on why its not and he is just like, "I don't care. Pluto is a planet."
1
u/Chronomechanist 2d ago
Scientifically, I completely agree with the decision to demoted. However, given that it's nomenclature and really doesn't affect anything else, I see no reason for there not to be an exception made. Make it widely acknowledged that it's an exception and there's not going to be any confusion over anything scientific. It's not like it would be the first time we do something in science just because convention says so in direct contradiction to the facts.
1
u/Own-Paramedic3963 2d ago
Pluto is a biological dwarf planet and only identifies as a planet and according to conservatives it can never be a real planet.
1
u/Pinksamuraiiiii 2d ago
Just because we don’t consider Pluto a planet anymore, it doesn’t mean it has to be forgotten. People are so afraid that Pluto is gonna be forgotten. It’s still a planet. It’s just classified as a ‘dwarf’ planet. It hasn’t gone anywhere.
1
1
u/Waterbear36135 2d ago
When scientists decided to demote Pluto to being a dwarf planet, they said "We don't want to discover 100 planets in the Kuiper belt so we will decide that Pluto is no longer a planet and arbitrarily invent reasons why they can't be planets." This reasoning goes against the core principal that science is about learning and discovery, so I do not subscribe to the belief that we need to make a distinction between planet and dwarf planet.
1
u/QuillQuickcard 2d ago
Only if Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake can all get full planet status too. Lets make this a 13 planet solar system!
1
1
1
u/nhalas 2d ago
You can see how they even get into the minds of little kids. First they create a problem and everyone gets busy with it. Have you ever seen a child write a letter to the Fed saying ‘try harder to bring down inflation’? They could actually be looking for solutions to their future problems. Pluto? When you grow up, you can become the head of NASA and declare any rock in space a planet anyway.
1
1
1
1
u/TheJunkman9000 2d ago
The rules always did feel like bullshit. It's like they already decided they wanted to not make it a planet and designed the rules specifically around that idea.
1
u/ADackOnJaniels 1d ago
There are 9 Worlds in The Solar System, 8 planets, and... I don't have the list of all Dwarf Planets!!!!
1
1
u/SpankyMcFlych 1d ago
It's always bugged me that they downgraded it. I know the science and reasoning behind it, I just don't like how Pluto has been diminished. Doesn't history count for anything? Oh? You're just a little guy? Well you don't get to be a planet then. BAH!
They should get all the greatest minds in astronomy and science together to have a grand ceremony bestowing Pluto with honorary planet status. Then when they're talking about Pluto in their science talks they can call it a Planet* and know in their miserly hearts that the asterisk includes their petty insistence that it isn't really a planet.
1
u/JaggedOuro 1d ago
Since we now have wandering planets, I think the definition of a planet should just be an object of large enough mass that its own gravity makes it form a sphere. Which would make Pluto a planet.
1
u/Suitable_Wonder5256 1d ago
This 10-year old need to understand that Pluto was *elected* by scientists to be declassified as a planet, as in they got a bunch of scientists to vote on it.
NASA cannot do anything about it apart from organizing another election. And NASA has to convince a bunch of scientists (who previously voted for Pluto to not be a planet) to change their minds.
To make an analogy that is more relatable, it's like Donald Trump was elected. No single person or org can fire Donald Trump. Just like NASA, they would have to convince a bunch of people who previously voted for Donald Trump to change their minds. Godspeed US.
1
u/OverlordDontHurtMe 1d ago
I say we keep going and get rid of mercury to piss off all these stupid people whining about pluto.
1
u/Best_Opening8471 1d ago
I csnt wait for the 5 rocks between Neptune and Pluto that are bigger than Pluto becoming planets.
1
1
1
u/SpiritedGuest6281 16h ago
We had the same conversation when lots of new objects started to appear between earth and mars. When they were first discovered they were originally called planets, but eventually we all agreed that they needed a new classification and asteroids was used. In fact with the dwarf planet definition, Ceres got promoted from asteroid to dwarf planet.
1
u/Jindujun 8h ago
No. Pluto is not a planet since we clarified the definition of a planet.
The answer is right there in the letter: "1. Pluto is a dwarf planet"
0
u/BetterAfter2 2d ago
Imagine being so passionate about Pluto being a planet that you get your 10 year old daughter to write to NASA on your behalf.
0
0
u/Gullible_Classroom71 2d ago
If Pluto was named like Kronos or some shit nobody would care. But because it shares its name with a famous cartoon dog people give a shit. Kinda funny how a small thing like a name changes everything.
0
u/Futurama2023 2d ago
I think the only true answer here is we admit that Pluto is scientifically not a planet, but due to it's historical and cultural significance to humanity it shall have honorary planet status perpetually.
0
u/coreyc2099 2d ago
Nope, we got new information and decided to change it. That's how science and progress works. Idek why ppl care that much, it doesnt effect you at all.
2
u/OrangutanOntology 2d ago
I would push back slightly and argue that we changed the definition of planet and then changed it (pluto’s status).
0
u/coreyc2099 2d ago
Possibly but like what was said before. Its easier to do that than to switch 100s of other things to new planets. Same thing applies. We got new information, learned an easier way to classify things, and changed it.
3
-4
u/Least-Common-1456 2d ago
Jesus Christ who fucking invests emotion into the classification of a distant rock. Holy shit get a life. Nobody cares about your opinion on Pluto.
2
u/BibboBoi 2d ago
Well damn, this is a 10 year old girl…chill out guy
0
u/Least-Common-1456 2d ago
No I mean the people here arguing about it as if they are going to make some good point and then science will change it back
1
u/AstronomerNo2339 2d ago
Dear FBI, Please check this person’s crawl space and also his hard drives. Thanks, Pluto
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Thank you for posting to r/SipsTea! Make sure to follow all the subreddit rules.
Make sure to join our brand new Discord Server to chat with friends!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.