Anton, "they" cannot make Pluto not be a planet anymore in spite of
what you have read. The "they" we are talking about is four percent
of the International Astronomical Union, or 424 out of 10,000
members, most of whom are not planetary scientists. They voted on
the last day of a two-week conference, and no absentee voting was
allowed, meaning any members not in the room could not vote. Their
decision was immediately rejected in a petition signed by over 300
professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal
Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. The
definition the IAU involved makes no linguistic sense, as it states
that a "dwarf planet" is not a planet at all. That's like saying a
grizzly bear is not a bear! Dr. Stern and many others still
consider Pluto a planet; he has labeled the IAU vote "an
embarrassment to astronomy." There is a good chance it will be
overturned, possibly as soon as the IAU's next General Assembly in
2009. Meanwhile, you can express your support for Pluto's planet
status by signing an online petition to the IAU at
http://pleasesavepluto.org/pluto/petition-to-iau/ To find out more
about what you can do for Pluto, visit
http://www.plutoisaplanet.org , http://www.plutoisaplanet.com , and
my own blog, http://laurele.livejournal.comhttp://laurele.livejournal.com

Anton, "they" cannot make Pluto not be a planet anymore in spite of
what you have read. The "they" we are talking about is four percent
of the International Astronomical Union, or 424 out of 10,000
members, most of whom are not planetary scientists. They voted on
the last day of a two-week conference, and no absentee voting was
allowed, meaning any members not in the room could not vote. Their
decision was immediately rejected in a petition signed by over 300
professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal
Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. The
definition the IAU involved makes no linguistic sense, as it states
that a "dwarf planet" is not a planet at all. That's like saying a
grizzly bear is not a bear! Dr. Stern and many others still
consider Pluto a planet; he has labeled the IAU vote "an
embarrassment to astronomy." There is a good chance it will be
overturned, possibly as soon as the IAU's next General Assembly in
2009. Meanwhile, you can express your support for Pluto's planet
status by signing an online petition to the IAU at
http://pleasesavepluto.org/pluto/petition-to-iau/ To find out more
about what you can do for Pluto, visit
http://www.plutoisaplanet.org , http://www.plutoisaplanet.com , and
my own blog, http://laurele.livejournal.comhttp://laurele.livejournal.com