is Pluto a planet

The Reclassification of Pluto

plutoThe International Astronomical Union met in 2006 to discuss reclassifying our solar system, and as a result Pluto was deemed to be a dwarf planet, the former asteroid Ceres was promoted to planetary status, and the newest planet, formerly named UB313, was named Eris after the goddess of discord. Because the astrological Pluto deals with the transformation that comes from looking death in the eye and annhilation of the personal ego, it stands to reason that the reclassification of Pluto could open a door to how this process operates.

The last “planet” to be discovered in our lifetime was the comet/planetoid Chiron, and it took some time for its astrological signficance to become known. Through the magic of synchronicity, the name of the planet itself reveals the god whose energy manifests through that planet.

You can read more about Ceres here.

Pluto’s discovery in 1930 brought with it the introduction of the atomic bomb and the fear of ultimate annhilation, the ultimate power. In these days of terrorism when a single individual with a toiletry bottle can potentially wipe out thousands of people, our concept of power is changing. In centuries past, whichever country had the biggest guns had the most power. When the US was the only nation with the bomb we were the only superpower. When Russia developed the bomb, they were the other superpower. At this time nine nations have nuclear weapons, with several more to attain that status soon (including Iran). The whole concept of power, as embodied in the archetype of Pluto, is changing and this will become very clear in the 2010-2013 square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn. The power of Pluto hasn’t lessened one […]

Share this article...
By |2019-11-10T19:17:47-05:00August 24th, 2013|Planets|0 Comments
Read More

Fighting for Pluto’s right to be a planet

Pluto is a planetAstrologers chuckle when we hear people say that Pluto is no longer a planet.  Try telling that to someone going through a gnawingly agonizing Pluto transit!   But ever since Pluto was reclassified (some say “demoted”) a few years ago, a small but very vocal contingent of astronomers is fighting to classify Pluto as a planet once again.

One of these astronomers is Alan Stern, who was interviewed by Space.com:

Just because Pluto orbits with many other dwarf planets doesn’t change what it is, just as whether an object is a mountain or not doesn’t depend on whether it’s in a group or in isolation.

What we see in the Kuiper Belt is a third class of planets, the dwarf planets, or DPs. Most, like Pluto and Eris, have primarily rocky compositions (like Earth), moons, and polar caps, atmospheres, seasons and other attributes like the larger planets. They’re just somewhat smaller.
Back before the Kuiper Belt was discovered, Pluto did look like a misfit that didn’t belong with either the terrestrials or the giant planets. Turns out that was exactly right, but now we know why: Pluto looked like a misfit because our technology back then couldn’t see that it was just the brightest and easiest to detect of a large new class of planets.
In fact, that’s why it’s clear Ceres [the largest object in the asteroid belt] was a planet all along, but was misclassified for a time because we didn’t have enough similar examples to recognize dwarf planets as their own category. Today, however, it’s clear the DPs outnumber both of the other two planet classes we know of in our solar system — the giants and the […]
Share this article...
By |2019-11-10T19:32:01-05:00December 2nd, 2010|Astronomy|Comments Off on Fighting for Pluto’s right to be a planet
Read More

Astronomers at IAU ignore Pluto once again

The International Astronomers’ Union met again this week and some star-watchers hoped that Pluto would be under consideration to regain planetary status.  Alas, it was not to be:

Neither the pro-Pluto nor the anti-Pluto adherents have any interest in reviving the debate over planethood in Rio – and it’ll likely be a long time before the IAU gets back into planetary politics.
“There’s no discussion of dwarf planets. That has subsided,” said Lars Lindberg Christensen, who served as the IAU’s spokesman during the 2006 assembly in Prague and is filling the same role in Rio. …

read more here…

Until a Pluto transit feels like any other day, for me Pluto will remain a planet and no one can convince me otherwise!!

Share this article...
By |2009-08-10T06:24:32-04:00August 10th, 2009|Astronomy|Comments Off on Astronomers at IAU ignore Pluto once again
Read More