Tombaugh’s widow, others protest Pluto demotion

Supporters of Pluto’s now defunct planetary status are banding together to protest its recent demotion. They’re fighting with a passion that rivals that of the group of Democrats who believe Bush stole the presidency and lied about the Iraq war.

A group of worldwide astronomers last week demoted Pluto to the rank of “dwarf planet.” Patricia Tombaugh, widow of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto, was quoted in newspapers across the world as saying she was “shook up” but also said her husband saw this coming before his death several years ago.

Now a group of New Mexico State University Aggies plan to protest the demotion this morning on campus. Tombaugh’s widow, who lives in Las Cruces, will join them.

In announcing the protest, Felicia Ybarra, in a guest column in the Round Up, recalls Patricia Tombaugh smiling brightly as she showed her the stained-glass window at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Solano Drive, which depicts Pluto and Clyde Tombaugh.

“I feel that she, the late Clyde Tombaugh and Pluto deserve more than to be ‘erased’ from the textbooks,” states Ybarra, a former student regent who is now NMSU’s director of presidential events.

The group plans to meet at 10 a.m. this morning north of Hadley Hall and march along the International Mall, escorted by police.

The NMSU group is not alone. More than 300 professional researchers have signed a petition attacking the decision by the International Astronomical Union to downgrade Pluto, according to the news service AFP.

It’s too late to sign the petition, but you can learn more about it by clicking here.

The protesters say the new definition of a planet, which by default excludes Pluto, is not accurate and should not be used. Since they have some 300 signatures, they have sufficient influence to challenge the downgrading, which was voted on by fewer than 500 of the astronomical union’s 10,000 members.

A note to textbook makers: Don’t rewrite the definition of the solar system yet.

“The only thing missing when (the astronomical union) announced their decision at their press conference was the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner,” University of Colorado researcher Jeffrey Bennett wrote in a column for Space.com. “Yes, I’m afraid this matter is about as settled as the Iraq war (was) in 2003.”