To celebrate, I'm going to offer up a few new mnemonic devices to help school children remember the order of the eight planets in our solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune):
- My Very Educated Mother Just Sat Upon Nails
- Most Vultures Eat Melons Jauntily, Smiling Under Nests
- More Verisimilitude Eludes Most Journalists Saying Utterly Nothing
- Many Volcanoes Erupt Monthly Just So U'll Notice (okay, that one doesn't quite work)
8/24/06 Update: CNN is reporting this morning that Pluto has been demoted! Now, I'm sensitive to the fact that many clung to Pluto's planethood for sentimental reasons, and that this news saddens them. However, I confess I'm pleased that the astronomers managed to set aside their warm, fuzzy feelings for Pluto and deal with the issue in a rational manner. Good work, IAU!
3 comments:
I wonder if anything will change on Pluto now that it's no longer a planet.
Will the other planets start snubbing it? Will it not be invited to the planet festivals?
What would happen if we changed Mars's name to Ares and called it a puppy instead of a planet? Would it look more Greek and would it wag its tail?
Tempest in a teapot if you ask me. Astral bodies have been around literally forever and they don't give a damn what we call them.
Very true, anonymous. Very true. What we call the planets makes not a jot of difference to them. However, it might make a difference in our understanding of them, their nature, their place (and our place) in the cosmos.
Pluto is much more suited to be a dogs name, anyway. Now if it had been named Popeye...
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