MVEMSNU! The Planet Pluto is No More

So all those years we were taught a lie. Some folks may remember the old Saved by The Bell episode where Screech introduced us to the acronym for remembering the order of the planets in our solar system. MVEMSNUP. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus (stop giggling) and Pluto. But as it turns out, scientists have recently discovered that the P was never supposed to be a P at all. That's right, no PP. (stop giggling)

The vote to revoke Plutos' planetary rights apparently only consisted of 424 who were essentially the "last men standing" at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Prague. It's a damn shame and an embarrasment to astronomy that less than 5% of the community were present and accounted for. Or even bothered to voice their opinion.

Of course now that time has passed since the decision, there are plenty who are upset at the decision, marking the new definition for Pluto as "ambiguous"

"This definition stinks, for technical reasons," says Alan Stern, leader of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. Of course he would think it stinks. They're mesing with his baby.

THE RESOLUTION

The decision establishes three main categories of objects in our solar system.

- Planets: The eight worlds starting with Mercury and moving out to Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

- Dwarf planets: Pluto and any other round object that "has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a satellite."

- Small solar system bodies: All other objects orbiting the sun. What exactly does that mean in terms of "not clearing the neighborhood"? Basically, the true planets in our system have cleared great areas of space around them. Save for their moon(s) they are the sole occupants of their spacial "hood". (What up, yo?). Pluto on the other hand is occupying an area of space populted by other objects roughly in sync with it's mass. Like Charon and 2003 UB313. Charon will remain as Plutos satellite.