My Very Earnest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles is a revered mnemonic device to name the order of the planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Now that Pluto is no longer designated a planet, we are left wondering “nine what?”
Americans’ irrational love of the little dwarf sparked into a frenzy in 2006 when the International Astronomical Union voted Pluto out of planet status.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who led the declassification charge, has written a book about hate mail he received from third-graders. Countless news stories have been filed. Debates have been waged. State resolutions have been passed. All for the love of a little dwarf planet.
Maybe Pluto is such a favorite because it was discovered by an American. Or, it may be that Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse’s dog Pluto in 1930, the same year the planet was discovered.
If you long for the day when tiny, eccentric Pluto was in its rightful place in the sky and in our hearts take the Robert Ferguson Observatory’s PlanetWalk, a scale model of the solar system designed to fit within the boundaries of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
This “solar system” has been shrunk more than 2,360,000,000 times, small enough for the park to include the orbit of the most distant now non-planet, Pluto, and large enough that the smallest planets could still be seen. It’s a fascinating look, no matter what side of the debate you fall on.
The observatory also offers public viewing about once a month. It is next open to the public Feb. 21, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for solar observing, which is free; and beginning at 7 p.m. for night viewing, $3 for adults 18 and older. Children under 18 are admitted free of charge.
Robert Ferguson Observatory
2605 Adobe Canyon Road
Kenwood, CA 95452
www.rfo.org
Pluto is a planet! Anyone who says otherwise is Un-American.