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In case that name means absolutely nothing to you (don\u2019t be embarrassed \u2013 I didn\u2019t know who he was either before this week)<\/i>, he\u2019s the guy who officially demoted Pluto. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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Ah, Pluto! My favorite little dwarf planet (it prefers \u201clittle people planet,\u201d please)<\/i>. I remember the fateful day in 2006, the first day of 8th<\/sup> grade for me<\/a> \u2013 gotta love them awkward years \u2013 when dearest Pluto was stripped of its honors as the ninth planet in our solar system. I\u2019ve always been small in stature myself and Pluto was that one planet with which I could connect. Apparently I wasn\u2019t alone. Tyson himself wrote a novel entitled The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America\u2019s Favorite Planet.<\/i> <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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Now, I\u2019m not about to call the awkward junior high phase \u201cAmerica\u2019s Favorite School Years.\u201d But I will admit that there are some striking similarities between this little person planet and my middle school experience. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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Firstly, as Tyson pointed out in his very entertaining lecture, while Pluto\u2019s demotion was mourned by all, \u201cPluto\u2019s happier now!\u201d \u201cPluto is now a big fish in a little pond,\u201d Tyson stated. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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I attended a small, Christian private school from 2nd<\/sup>grade through 8th<\/sup> grade. My graduating class was the largest in the school\u2019s history: 28 people. Whoa there! Gettin\u2019 crazy. <\/i>I was the class artist, one of three musicians, and, well, everyone was the class brainiac (SRVCA<\/a> was pretty nerdy back in my day). <\/i><\/o:p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m going to take a minute to brag here: the same year Pluto got kicked out of the solar system, I won 1st<\/sup> prize in the 8th<\/sup> grade science fair. My project was about how fast different chocolates melted depending on their percentage of cocoa. True confession time: I did the entire project the night before. Take that, teachers! And I now hate science. (I\u2019m an English major, dreading the physics lab Vanderbilt requires me to take next semester).<\/i><\/o:p><\/div>\n
I was a big fish in a 28-person pond. Pluto was once 1 of 9 planets. Now it\u2019s 1 of only 5 dwarf planets in our solar system! <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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Next, the majority of the time that the scientific world has known about Pluto\u2019s existence, it was thought to be something it\u2019s not. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was originally classified as another planet in our solar system. I\u2019m not really a numbers person, but here\u2019s how I got to that conclusion:<\/o:p><\/div>\n
2006 \u2013 1930 = 76 years<\/o:p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s been 6 years since 2006, so we\u2019ve known about Pluto for 82 years.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
76 years of incorrect assumption \/ 82 years of known existence = 92% (majority)<\/o:p><\/div>\n
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For the majority of the time that the world has known about my existence, I was expected to be a math\/science kid. Growing up, I dreamed of being an architectural engineer or a cardiovascular surgeon (Imagine my mom\u2019s enthusiasm when I announced I wanted to be a writer and a musician!)<\/i> Born in 1993, Emma was originally expected to continue with her trajectory of advanced mathematical and scientific thinking.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
I changed my mind in 8th<\/sup> grade (just like Pluto!), so <\/o:p><\/div>\n
2007-1993 = 14 years <\/o:p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s been 5 years since 2007, so I\u2019ve been alive for 19 years. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
13 years of incorrect assumption\/ 19 years of known existence = 74% (majority)<\/o:p><\/div>\n
Thirdly, there is decreasing discussion of Pluto. Nobody really wants to talk about the little planet anymore. Teachers won\u2019t tell their students about it in the same way they did back in the day because it is no longer a major point of the solar system. And for many Americans, it is undoubtedly still a sore subject (I can tell you first hand that there were numerous outbursts from frustrated Pluto-activist audience members on Tuesday).<\/o:p><\/i><\/div>\n
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Let\u2019s be real: nobody really wants to dwell on the memories of junior high years. It was awkward. Voices got squeaky, people grew (or didn\u2019t), the cool kids hung out at the mall, your mom had to drive you on \u201cdates,\u201d and, worst of all, dances were awful and weird. There are those occasional moments in the rest of life when you reminisce on the horrors of middle school, which everyone who\u2019s ever been 12 has inevitably encountered. But that\u2019s it. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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There is one final way that all<\/i> of our junior high experiences are like Pluto. One of the most fascinating things that I have ever learned about space is that when you look out into space, you are literally looking into the past (yes, that inspirational scene in <\/i>\u201cThe Lion King\u201d is actually Simba\u2019s dad talking to him from the past)<\/i>. This is because of the time that it takes light to travel; essentially, this conundrum means that we are looking at old light. While Pluto is not that<\/i> far away from us, so its light we perceive in telescopes isn\u2019t that old, it is still in the past.<\/div>\n
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And aren\u2019t we all grateful that statement is also true of our middle school dances?<\/div>\n
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