Beyond Mnemonics: Pluto and the Nature of Science

by
Mary Urquhart, University of Texas at Dallas

Introduction Neptune could be explained by yet another large planet in the

If your students were upset following the August 24th outer solar system. The hunt for Planet X seemed successful
announcement from the International Astronomical Union that when, on February 18, 1930, a young astronomer named Clyde
Pluto was demoted from its standing among the now eight major Tombaugh discovered a faint object moving against the fixed
planets to a new category of “dwarf planet”, you are not alone. background stars on photographic plates he had taken as part
Students, many of whom were taught the order of the planets of a sky survey he was hired to conduct at Lowell Observatory.
using variations of the common mnemonic “My Very Educated The newly discovered object was given the name Pluto, after
Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas”, now express confusion and the Roman god of the underworld. (An 11 year-old girl Venetia
dismay at the loss of Pluto. The confusion is understandable. Burney in Oxford England first suggested the name Pluto.) For
After all, if students are taught that the solar system has nine more than 45 years, Pluto’s strangely elliptical orbit and the
planets as a fact, how can that change? Although going from light reflected by the newly discovered object was all that was
nine to eight planets can be both confusing and disturbing, it is known about this distant world.
also an excellent opportunity to discuss the nature of science. Determining the size of Pluto directly through observations
The National Science Education Standards “rest on the premise proved difficult for most of the 20th century with even the best
that science is an active process” (NRC, 1996), and the Pluto telescopes. Indirect calculations of Pluto’s diameter from its
debate reflects this view. All to often science is perceived to known brightness required assumptions of its reflectivity (a
be (and taught as) a collection of facts. In a statement released property known to planetary scientists as albedo.) If Pluto had
in 2000, the American Astronomical Society described science, a very low albedo, similar to the Moon’s average value of 11%,
“not [as] a collection of facts but an ongoing process, with it could be the size of Mars. A Mars-diameter object would
continual revisions and refinements of concepts necessary in be roughly consistent with measurements of Pluto’s diameter
order to arrive at the best current views of the Universe.” by Gerald Kuiper in 1950 (Marcialis and Merline 1998). In
Knowing something about how and why the decision to 1976, astronomers using a reflectivity of 40% (a moderate
demote Pluto was made is important for students of science value similar to that of both Earth and Neptune) calculated the
- and interested members of the general public - to understand. diameter of Pluto to be 3300 km, which is close to the diameter
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an organization of the Moon. In 1978, James Christy discovered Pluto’s large
composed of nearly 9,000 astronomers from all over the moon, Charon. Careful observations of the orbit of the satellite
world, and is only body with the authority and responsibility allowed Pluto’s mass to be calculated using Kepler’s third law,
to assign designations to astronomical bodies and their surface and showed it to be about 1/5th of the mass of our Moon. In the
features. The IAU’s ruling on the status of Pluto is in line with mid 1980s the orbital plane of Charon was such that Charon
the dynamic nature of science and the proposals and debate crossed directly in front of (a transit) and behind Pluto (an
that preceded the ruling are excellent examples of science occultation), resulting in a series of mutual eclipses as viewed
as a human endeavor. A bit of background in the history of from the Earth. Astronomers observing Charon pass before
planet discoveries in the past few centuries and recent strides and behind Pluto were able to accurately determine the radii
in understanding the nature of our solar system would be useful of the two worlds. Pluto was also found to have a relatively
in order to understand both the ruling on Pluto’s status and the high average reflectivity of ~50%, consistent with a small size
scientific controversy preceding and accompanying the refined (Young and Benzel, 1994). Rather than being the giant planet
definition of “planet”. predicted to be responsible for the perturbations in the orbits of
Uranus and Neptune, Pluto is just 2/3 the diameter of the Moon
The History of Pluto and the Pluto-Charon system totals a mere 0.22% of the Earth’s
Only six planets in our solar system, including Earth, mass. Pluto could not be the object predicted to be disturbing
are visible without the aid of a telescope. When Uranus was the orbits of the Uranus and Neptune. So what about Planet X?
discovered in 1781, astronomers noticed that some unknown By 1989, Voyager 2 had flown by all four giant planets and had
object appeared to be affecting its orbit. The search for this accurately measured their masses. New calculations based on
unknown world led to the discovery of Neptune in 1846. Voyager 2’s data did not show the orbital perturbations that led
Estimates of Neptune’s mass, however, did not seem sufficient Percival Lowell and many of his contemporaries to hypothesize
to explain the orbital irregularities of Uranus (Hoyt, 1980). the existence of Planet X (Standish, 1993). Pluto’s discovery
Neptune’s orbit, too, was slightly different than calculations had been based on a faulty prediction – and the careful search
predicted. Many astronomers, including Percival Lowell, the of Clyde Tombaugh.
astronomer famous for sketching canals on Mars and founder
of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, believed that One in a Large Family
the apparent irregularities in the calculated orbits of Uranus and Many astronomers argue that if Pluto were discovered

32 The Texas Science Teacher October 2006

today it would simply be classified as a large member of a many as 10 billion smaller objects (Stern, 2003). Although the
class of recently discovered solar system bodies called Kuiper numbers are large, even the largest objects are tiny compared
Belt Objects (KBOs). However, as long as Pluto remained the to the Earth; the combined mass of the Kuiper Belt is predicted
largest object with an orbit taking it beyond Neptune, it seemed to be significantly less than that of our planet.
safe. Then in 2003 Michael Brown of CalTech announced that
he had discovered an object called UB 313 (nicknamed Xena) Reasoning and Controversy
in an area of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune The debate on Pluto’s status reached a new level and
called the Kuiper Belt. urgency after the 2005 announcement that UB 313 is larger
The existence of the Kuiper Belt has been know since 1992 than Pluto (Brown et al., 2005), but astronomers had been
(Jewitt and Luu, 1993), but was hypothesized by astronomers in publicly wrestling with the issue since 1998. Six years after
the mid-20th century who were trying to identify the sources of the discovery of the first KBO, some members of the IAU
comets. Comets, which are debris left over from the formation suggested Pluto be reduced from major planet to minor planet
of the solar system fall into two general categories: long-period status – a classification also given to asteroids and comets. In
comets (orbital periods greater than >200 km) which come 1998 only relatively small KBOs had been discovered, and
from all directions in the sky, and short period comets (orbital the IAU firmly supported planet status for Pluto (IAU, 1999).
periods of < 200 km) which typically have orbits relatively But once the diameter of UB 313 was announced in 2005 a
close to the plane of planetary orbits and in the same direction decision had to be made. Does the solar system have 8 planets,
as the orbits of the planets. or 10, 11, or more? When Ceres was demoted from planet
In 1950 Jan Oort proposed the idea of the Oort cloud, a status (see Hairston, 2006), an important piece of information
cometary reservoir for long-period comets extending at least crucial to the current discussion was missing – an observation
1/3 of the way to the nearest star to our solar system. In 1951, of its “roundness”. With a diameter of about 950 km Ceres is
Gerald Kuiper proposed a closer reservoir for the short period the largest member of the asteroid belt, and has at least one
comets, which was similar to an idea by proposed several years important difference when compared with all other asteroids.
previously by Kenneth Edgeworth (Jewitt, 1999). This band In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that Ceres has
of icy objects, commonly known as the Kuiper Belt, have orbits enough mass for gravity to pull the rocky object into a spherical
that lie roughly in the plane of the solar system. So where did the – or round – shape. Saturn’s icy moon Mima is round with a
two populations come from? According to leading models of diameter of just under 400 km, and has significantly less mass
planetary formation, when the giant planets were forming untold than Ceres, simply because ice isn’t as strong rock and is more
numbers of small icy bodies were deflected out of giant planets’ easily pulled into a spherical shape. Relatively small KBOs with
formation zones (Weissman, 1999). Some of these bodies were diameters >400 km should be round, too. Less than two weeks
sent into orbits at the edge of the Sun’s gravitational influence, before the decision to reclassify Pluto, a proposal seriously
primarily by Jupiter and Saturn, and became the Oort cloud. considered by the IAU would have conveyed planet status on
Neptune and Uranus tended to deflect small bodies in their three other objects: Ceres, UB 313, and Charon, which orbits
formation zones toward Jupiter, which would then scatter them a point just outside of Pluto (the center of mass of the Pluto-
in all directions, but most often away from the Sun. During this Charon system). The suggestion was similar to one supported
process small objects that never came together to form a larger by several leading planetary astronomers that would convey
planet were cleared out from inner edge of the Kuiper Belt. A planet status upon any naturally occurring “round” object that
few of the larger members of this group remained in the area orbits the Sun and not another planet. This definition would
of Neptune’s orbit. In an unlikely event, Triton was captured have the advantage of being based on a physical property – a
as a moon of Neptune. The Pluto-Charon system, UB 313, and planet in our solar system would be an object orbiting the Sun
smaller Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) were spared because they that has sufficient mass for its own gravity to overcome the
never come close to Neptune. Pluto, and many other KBOs, material strength of the material of which it was composed,
orbit in what is known as a 3:2 resonance (Jewitt, 1999). For whether that be rock or an icy-rock mixture. The proposed IAU
every three orbits Neptune completes, Pluto completes two, definition would have classified any round object larger than
and the two worlds never come closer than about 17 times the 800 km in diameter that orbits the sun and has a mass roughly
Earth-Sun distance (Malhorta, 1999) despite the fact that the 1/12,000 of Earth’s mass (an object large enough to be spherical
Pluto crosses the orbit of Neptune. due to its own gravity if made of rock).
Beyond Pluto astronomers expect that there are many more The with problem broadening the category of planet, as
KBOs. some of which lie in orbits that were never disturbed pointed out by Mike Brown, the discover of UB 313, is that the
by Neptune. More than 1000 KBOs have been found to date solar system would soon have many more planets as ongoing
(NASA, 2006). More distant objects with disturbed orbits, like surveys of the Kuiper Belt uncover more objects fitting the
the 1800 km object Sedna (Brown et al,, 2004) are also waiting roundness criteria (Brown, 2006). If dropping one planet from
to be discovered beyond the Kuiper Belt. Thanks to the hard the solar system is confusing, imagine adding dozens, a 100, or
work of astronomers in the past 14 years, we now know that even more new planets to the family. If the simple roundness
Pluto is a sizable member of the Kuiper Belt, a region believed criteria had been applied, we would have 53 planets as of the
to be populated with on the order of 100,000 icy bodies objects present day (Brown, 2006). Had the IAU’s proposal of mid
with diameters of >100 km (detectable from Earth), and as August 2006 been adopted, we would have 12 planets today,

The Texas Science Teacher October 2006 33

but many more tomorrow. The mid-August proposal was met massive neighbor, never managed to merge to form a larger
by an outcry from the astronomical community, including body that would fall under the new category of planet.
members of IAU. On August 24, 2006 the IAU adopted a The decision of the IAU was made only by members
different strategy when it officially stated that a planet: present in Prague, was not unanimous, and certainly did not
please everyone in the astronomical community. For many
(a) is in orbit around the Sun, astronomers, the new IAU definition lacks the elegant simplicity
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid of the roundness proposal. By the time of this writing, one week
body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium after the decision, protests by professional astronomers have
(nearly round) shape, and already begun. However, unless the IAU reverses its decision
(c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. in the future, our solar system will continue to have 8 planets.
In addition it will have a growing number of objects classified
By the third criteria, Pluto is no longer a planet, but as dwarf planets, a plethora of irregularly shaped small solar
instead is reclassified as a dwarf planet, along with other solar system bodies, as well as numerous moons, both large and
system bodies satisfying only the first two criteria. All other
naturally occurring objects satisfying the first criteria (e.g. not
moons) will be officially known as small solar system bodies UT Dallas Professor Mary Urquhart stands in front of a scale
rather than minor planets. Essentially the new three-tiered model depicting the relative sizes of Jupiter (27.5 cm), Earth
classification is a compromise. The new class of dwarf planet (2.5 cm), and Pluto (.44 cm) compared with the Sun (274 cm)
allows for the roundness criteria to be applied while allowing at Boon Elementary in Allen ISD. With an actual diameter
the classification of planet to be reserved for the eight larger, of 2,274 km (less than 1/5th the diameter of the Earth), the
familiar solar system objects. These dwarf planets can also be real Pluto is significantly smaller than the eight objects now
thought of as planetary embryos: objects that due to their small classified by the International Astronomical Union as planets.
combined mass, or the dynamical influence of a much more

34 The Texas Science Teacher October 2006

round, and small and irregular. Children, educators, and world-view-changing data. The debate over Pluto highlights
textbook publishers will not be charged with the task of keeping just how rich the scientific understanding of the solar system
up with a very large – and growing – planetary family. The has become, and how much more there is yet to learn. By the
category of dwarf planets provides a scientifically reasonable, time the NASA spacecraft New Horizons reaches Pluto and
if not entirely satisfying, way of classifying objects that meet begins its exploration of the Kuiper Belt, today’s 3rd graders
the roundness criteria but are significantly smaller than all of learning the order of the planets will be preparing to enter their
the 8 planets. Our understanding of the solar system will also freshman year of college. Pluto, Charon, UB 313, and the 41
continue to change, but in a manageable way. Dwarf planets, other large Kuiper Belt objects will undoubtedly be recognized
small solar system bodies, and small moons will continue to as part of a much larger known family. And dwarf planet or one
be discovered, as were Pluto’s tiny moons (Space Telescope of the nine familiar to schoolchildren, Pluto will still be Pluto.
Science Institute, 2006), named Hydra and Nix by the IAU. The universe hasn’t changed; only our understanding of it has.
(Moons don’t make a planet. Even small solar system bodies That, too, is the nature of science.
can have moons, such as the 58 km long asteroid Ida and its 1.6
km long moon Dactyl.) References
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