So much for the last 76 years!!!

It was announced today that, officially, Pluto is no longer a planet.

Since 1930, our solar system has consisted of nine planets. You know them all, I'm sure. Say them with me: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Now, according to fewer than 424 of the world's astronomers (which is, apparently, less than 5 percent), there are only eight!

If there are only about 10,000 astronomers in the world (make 424 an even 500, multiply by 20), why is this anything the millions of us non-astronomers need to know? There is still a big old object out there past Neptune (hey, it's bigger than Mercury!), and when your 76 year old grandma tells you about that planet, Pluto, you're not gonna tell her she's nuts, right? (You may, but not for that reason.)

This tells me that Astronomy needs a ratings boost. When baseball was concerned about fading interest in the All Star game, they changed the rules. When TV shows begin to lose ratings, they make changes (new characters introduced, old characters die, the ladies open a little business in Miami). It's the same thing here. Colleges are going to make a killing on those astronomy textbooks that you can't sell back now.

The difference is, outside of what I studied in school and the article I read just now, I have never cared much about the planetary make up of our Solar System. The names of those 9 planets amount to little more than a Trivial Pursuit answer. If I ever discuss the planets again, it's unlikely I'll leave Pluto out of the discussion.

Oh, by the way, a group of 424 fingonomers just voted: Your thumb is no longer a finger. Yes, it's still there on your hand in all its opposable glory. It bends at the knuckle and sports a fashionable nail...but a finger it is not!

HA!

In our hearts, Pluto will always be a planet.

Now, what the hell is Goofy?