Planet Plutoid

“Q: PLUTO????????????”

— Anonymous

Look, friend. I know this is still very emotional for some people. Pluto was there for you when you were a child. The underdog of the solar system. You believed in Pluto, and by thunder, Pluto believed in you. And you are personally offended that this is no longer the case.

NEVER AGAIN will you be able to talk about the nine planets of the solar system. NEVER AGAIN will you be able to say My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Now she only serves nachos, or noodles, or nothing. A travesty, you say to yourself, righteous tears running down your face.

But people. Really. It’s not like we detonated a planet-annihilating thermonuclear warhead the day it was announced that Pluto’s status had changed. Pluto is still out there. It’s still out there, doing its weird plutoid orbit thing, and doesn’t give a damn what we call it. Heck, we didn’t even know what Pluto looked like before this summer!

Photo from NASA

Not only that, but it’s got a whole new squad to hang out with, and I don’t see anyone getting pissed that Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and especially Eris aren’t planets - let alone the several hundred other possible dwarf planets being argued over constantly. 

Change means we’re moving forward and making progress. Change means that NASA, IAU, and everyone else isn’t just content to let things sit the way they’ve always been. Isn’t it incredibly neat that there’s a whole pile more celestial bodies in our solar system that don’t quite fit what we’ve always thought was true? Isn’t it goddamn amazing to think that there’s stuff in our own solar system there that has yet to be discovered??? LIKE I’M NOT EVEN THAT INTO SPACE AND I’M LOSING MY COOL ABOUT IT

I’m gonna level with you: Pluto not being a “planet” isn’t a travesty, isn’t something to protest over, isn’t even mildly disappointing. It’s EXCITING as SHIT and I will literally fight you over this.