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Turner Publishing Company - Alan Boyle

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133 pages

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In support of Pluto-the cutest and most unfairly treated planet

Pity poor Pluto: It's a planet that was discovered because of a mistake, a planet that turned out not to be a planet at all, thanks to a still-disputed decision made in 2006. And yet, Pluto is the planet best-loved by Americans, especially children, one that may have contained the building blocks of life billions of years ago and may well serve as life's last redoubt billions of years from now.

In The Case for Pluto, award-winning science writer Alan Boyle traces the tiny planet's ups and downs, its strange appeal, the reasons behind its demotion, and the reasons why it should be set back in the planetary pantheon.

Tells the compelling story of Pluto's discovery and how it became a cultural icon
Makes the case for Pluto as planet, countering the books that argue against it
Comes in a small, friendly package — just like Pluto — and features a handsome design, making it a great gift

The Case for Pluto is the must-read tale of a cosmic underdog that has captured the hearts of millions: an endearing little planet that is changing the way we see the universe beyond our backyard.

Alan Boyle is MSNBC.com’s science editor and the award-winning blogger behind Cosmic Log. He’s been a talking head on NBC’s The Today Show and the MSNBC cable channel, holding forth on scientific subjects ranging from the chances of an asteroid Armageddon to the 3-D wizardry behind the “Harry Potter” movies. But he writes better than he talks.
Acknowledgments.

1 The Planet in the Cornfield.

2 Fellow Wanderers.

3 The Search for Planet X.

4 Pluto and Its Little Pals.

5 The Meaning of a Moon.

6 There Goes the Neighborhood.

7 Not Yet Explored.

8 Betting on the Tenth Planet.

9 The Battle of Prague.

10 The Lighter Side of Pluto.

1 1 The Great Planet Debate.

12 The Day of the Dwarfs.

13 Planet X Redux.

14 Alien Plutos.

15 The Case for Pluto.

Appendix A. What to Tell Your Kids about Planets.

Appendix B. The International Astronomical Union's Resolutions and Revisions.

Appendix C. Planetary Vital Statistics.

Notes.

Selected Bibliography.

Credits.

Index.

Sujets

Astronomie

Astrophysique

Science

Pluto

Astronomy

Sciences et techniques

Space Science

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	22 octobre 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780470541906
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0750€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 - THE PLANET IN THE CORNFIELD
Chapter 2 - FELLOW WANDERERS
Chapter 3 - THE SEARCH FOR PLANET X
Chapter 4 - PLUTO AND ITS LITTLE PALS
Chapter 5 - THE MEANING OF A MOON
Chapter 6 - THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Chapter 7 - NOT YET EXPLORED
Chapter 8 - BETTING ON THE TENTH PLANET
Chapter 9 - THE BATTLE OF PRAGUE
Chapter 10 - THE LIGHTER SIDE OF PLUTO
Chapter 11 - THE GREAT PLANET DEBATE
Chapter 12 - THE DAY OF THE DWARFS

Pluto
Eris
Haumea
Makemake
Ceres
More to Come

Chapter 13 - PLANET X REDUX
Chapter 14 - ALIEN PLUTOS
Chapter 15 - THE CASE FOR PLUTO
APPENDIX A - What to Tell Your Kids about Planets
APPENDIX B - The International Astronomical Union’s Resolutions and Revisions
APPENDIX C - Planetary Vital Statistics
NOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
CREDITS
INDEX
Al Tombaugh (foreground) and his wife, Cherylee Tombaugh (to his right), were among the Pluto defenders who gathered at New Mexico State University a week after the planet’s reclassification by the International Astronomical Union. Al Tombaugh is the son of the late Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Boyle, Alan, date.
The case for Pluto: how a little planet made a big difference/Alan Boyle. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-470-54190-6
1. Pluto (Dwarf planet) 2. Solar system. I. Title.
QB701.B69 2009
523.49’22—dc22
2009015961
To Tonia, my star
All that I know
Of a certain star
Is, it can throw
(Like the angled spar)
Now a dart of red,
Now a dart of blue;
Till my friends have said
They would fain see, too,
My star that dartles the red and the blue!
Then it stops like a bird; like a flower hangs furled:
They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.
What matter to me if their star is a world?
Mine has opened its soul to me, therefore I love it.
—Robert Browning, “My Star”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Like many other observers, I assumed that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) would have the final word on what is and isn’t a planet. And I said as much in my long running blog on msnbc.com . It took Alan Stern to convince me that I was wrong.
When I wrote in September 2006 that Pluto was gone for good from the nine planet club, no matter what any dissenter might say, the head of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto was quick to send me a stern e mail in response. “Who is pulling the wool over your eyes?” Stern wrote. I owe Alan Stern a debt of gratitude—first for taking the wool from my eyes, then for sharing his insights on the planetary frontier, and finally for reviewing the manuscript.
Mark Sykes, director of the Planetary Science Institute, was even more thorough in his review, as befits an accomplished scientist who happens to be an attorney as well. My third reviewer was Annette Tombaugh Sitze, the daughter of Pluto’s discoverer, who was kind enough to share family pictures as well as family reminiscences.
I’m grateful to all three for their encouragement, corrections, and comments. Any errors that remain in this book are mine alone.
In addition to these three advisers, this book draws upon interviews with a dream team of astronomers and planetary scientists. I thank these sources for sharing their expertise:

• Brian Marsden of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, director emeritus of the IAU’s Minor Planet Center;
• Owen Gingerich, professor emeritus of astronomy and the history of science at Harvard University, as well as a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory;
• Steven Soter, scientist-in-residence at New York University and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History;
• Edward Bowell, astronomer at Lowell Observatory and president of IAU Division III for planetary systems sciences;
• Dana Backman, astronomer at the SETI Institute and coauthor of the textbook Perspectives on Astronomy ;
• Astronomers Thomas T. Arny and Stephen Schneider, authors of Pathways to Astronomy ;
• German journalist Daniel Fischer, creator of the online journal The Cosmic Mirror and a witness to the planetary politics in Prague.
This book also draws upon interviews conducted over the past three years in the course of my work as science editor for msnbc.com . I’m particularly grateful for the insights provided by Mike Brown, planetary astronomer at the California Institute of Technology (and dwarf planet discoverer extraordinaire); Alan Boss, theoretical astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington; Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium; and David Weintraub, astronomer at Vanderbilt University.
I want to thank my old friend Doug “Chief ” Slauson for taking me on a tour of the planets in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and showing me his pride and joy, the Eastern Iowa Observatory and Learning Center.
Thanks also to my editor at msnbc.com , Michael Wann, for his interest and patience as I slogged through this extracurricular project. I also appreciate the support of Jennifer Sizemore, vice president and editor in chief of msnbc.com .
Several people helped round up the images accompanying the text, including Antoinette Beiser and Steele Wotkyns at Lowell Observatory, Ray Villard at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Lars Lindberg Christensen at the International Astronomical Union, Dan Durda and Eliot Young at the Southwest Research Institute, Geoff Chester at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Darren Phillips at New Mexico State University, and Carolina Martinez at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
I am immensely grateful to Stephen Power, my editor at John Wiley & Sons, who contacted me about taking on The Case for Pluto . This book exists primarily because he gave me the opportunity to write it. I also thank Mel Berger, my literary agent at William Morris Agency, who helped me take advantage of that opportunity. I could ask for no better team to guide me through the writing of my first honest to goodness book. Thanks also to production editor Rachel Meyers, freelance copy editor Roland Ottewell, and the rest of the sharp eyed team at Wiley.
Finally, I’m thankful for my family’s love and support, especially from my children, Natalie and Evan, and my wife, Tonia, to whom this book is dedicated.
1
THE PLANET IN THE CORNFIELD
Out amid the cornfields of Iowa, my friend Chief built a monument to Pluto, the picked on planet.
The red, oval shaped plaque was smaller than a stop sign, with a pimple of polished steel sticking up from the surface to represent Pluto’s size. It was mounted on a metal pole by the side of a blacktop road, four miles west of the town of Mount Vernon, population 3,628.
Chief, who got his nickname during childhood because he was part Native American, was one of my best friends in high school. Now he works at the University of Iowa and has become an amateur astronomer of some repute. A few years ago, he and other volunteers started up a group called the Mount Vernon Solar Tourist Society and erected the plaques just for fun, to show how big and empty our solar system is.
You can’t understand the distances that separate the planets just by looking at a schoolroom poster. They’re usually displayed right next to each other like some kind of celestial police lineup, with pea sized Pluto pictured right alongside his big brothers Uranus and Neptune.
To provide a better sense of scale, folks like Chief have laid out scores of mini-solar systems around the world. It’s the best way to relate the size of the planets to the immense distances involved. For example, the scale model in Washington, D.C., has a f