Demoted planet, dejected boy

A student pines for Pluto to be restored to its former planetary status.

from the November 1, 2007 edition

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Ah, yes, science is indeed fickle. Tomatoes were vegetables before they became fruits. The one, all-encompassing universe is, on second thought, believed to be one of many universes (or perhaps not). Dinosaurs, once regarded as cool and uncaring toward their young, are now being touted as models of parental care. The critical observer soon gets the sense that, if he only waits, science will eventually see things the way he does.

It was with this faith that I went out the other night with my son to sit on the picnic table in our backyard under a particularly starry sky. Orion was ascendant, presaging the winter to come. The Milky Way cut a path through the firmament. An unusually bright star blazed in the south. "That's either Saturn or Jupiter," I remarked.

"Why can't we see Pluto?" Anton asked with a note of wistfulness.

"Because it's so terribly far away."

"But the stars are farther away."

"Yes, but they're huge and on fire." And then I reminded him about the New Horizons space probe. "In eight years we'll get our first real look at Pluto," I said. "Then who knows? Maybe they'll decide it's a planet again."

Anton looked at me, his eyes full of hope. "Do you really think so?"

"Anton," I began, "there's a microscopic creature called a euglena. When I was about your age, we were taught it was an animal. By the time I was in high school, they had decided it was a plant. Now it's something else altogether. Things change." And then, after a moment's thought, I added, "Maybe you could pick another planet as your favorite until that space probe gets to Pluto. Venus is a good one."

My son wrinkled his nose. "Jupiter is better," he said with authority.

This time I held my tongue.

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