Pro-Pluto protesters march in Seattle's Greenwood
neighborhood. Photo: Greg Scheiderer.
Several dozen activists took to the streets of Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood Saturday to protest the 2006 decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to reclassify Pluto as a "dwarf planet." The march, fittingly, began at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company, went several blocks up Greenwood Avenue North, then came back down the other side, ending at Neptune Coffee.
The third annual Pluto is a Planet Protest was held on the 80th anniversary of the March 13, 1930 official announcement of the discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Marching along the sidewalks bearing signs, the protesters chanted a variety of slogans, including:
- Hey, hey, ho, ho, the IAU has got to go!
- Science is wrong; Pluto belongs!
- The flame of justice, we must fan it; we say Pluto is a planet!
- We're number nine!
- Some may call it a minor flap. The IAU is full of crap!
- Shame on you, IAU! Pluto is a planet, too!
Upon arrival at Neptune Coffee, the true nature of the protest was revealed. The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company is merely a front for 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing center that helps students ages six to 18 develop their creative and expository writing skills. Several of the students had met for a workshop Saturday morning and wrote essays explaining their arguments for or against planethood for Pluto. Some of them read their essays in the coffee shop. It was about an even split, though the students who took the side of the IAU received some good-natured heckles and catcalls.
An interesting side note: Several local media gave some advance coverage to the protest, including Phinneywood and The Stranger, and the event was also listed on Facebook. The comments are priceless. Some folks just don't have a sense of humor!
Comments
I wish I could have been there! Unfortunately, I live on the other side of the country, and the trip is expensive! One thing I would like to correct though: "Science" never said that Pluto is not a planet. In fact, hundreds of professional astronomers led by New Horizons Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern, signed a petition rejecting the IAU decision. There are plenty of scientific reasons for keeping Pluto a planet--it orbits the Sun and is large enough to be pulled into a round shape by its own gravity, a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium and characteristic of planets and not shapeless asteroids.
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