Solar System Remodeling

Pluto's Plight & Planets Plundered

Gee, Auntie Em, I suddenly feel like we're back in Kansas again: no evolution, no Pluto on the Solar System mobile and everything is in simple black and white. (Well, Pluto IS currently in retrograde motion- appearing to be going backwards in its orbit- from here on earth…) Good gravy, we've been hornswaggled! First they said we'd get a nice even dozen, and now they've only decided to deliver 8. Oh, this is a fine mess they've gotten us into! (As a native I have every right to poke fun at Kansas, the state whose motto reads: Ad astra per aspera- "To the stars through difficulties".)
My sister is right: There should be some sort of "grandfather clause" and, definitely, Pluto should sue.

Pluto and the Planetary Revolution

According to the newly declared IAU definition of "planet", we've now taken a step back in time to pre-1930 when there were only 8 known planets in our Solar System. But to that I say so what if he's smaller than all planets to come before him, has a highly eccentric orbit that laps over that of a major planet (Neptune), and is in a very unusual relationship with his largest "moon", Charon? That is not reason enough to kick him out of the planetary lineup!

The original proposal submitted by the IAU special committee at the 26th General Assembly would have expanded our Solar System by three- keeping Pluto, and adding Ceres (currently the largest known asteroid), Charon (Pluto's "Moon"), and UB313 (temporarily dubbed Xena).

Paradigm Shift Paralysis

So what happened? This turn of events bears more the odor of fear of change and political motivation than that of clear scientific reasoning. A chat with a colleague and fellow Astrologer (Yes, I promise I'll get to the Astrology part later, but first we've got to cover the Astronomy part!) yielded some interesting things. One big suprised was to learn that IAU members must be present at the IAU General Assembly closing ceremony (time of the vote) in order to have their votes count. (How many were actually able to make it to Prague this year at all, let alone stay for the closing ceremony? What? No voting by proxy or absentee ballot? Gee, even citizens and shareholders get to do this!) It was becoming evident that the vote results were not necessarily a fair reflection of the opinions of the IAU as a whole.

I don't pretend to understand the entire workings of the IAU and its bylaws, all I can say is it is a strange process that allows a proposal that took a special committee 2 years of careful, thoughtful construction to be completely tossed and at the last minute hastily replaced with something that doesn't even vaguely resemble the original proposal. Especially when this has world- wide consequences. There was no "due process" here. If there is that much dissent, then why not hold off the decision until the next IAU General Assembly (2009) and require the objectors to take the time to formulate a thoughtful counterproposal?

The gist of what I gathered is that a minority specialty group within the field of Astronomy felt left out of the proposal process and committed this coup of cosmic consequence as a last-ditch act of disgruntled desperation to avenge the perceived slight. They knew change was inevitable and, in order to feel some sense of control, a small cluster of individuals imposed a change that was neither natural nor scientifically sound for the times, but based merely upon the matter of being of their own choosing: A Case of Cutting off your outer-most Planet to spite your own Solar System.

TDPFKAP (The Dwarf Planet Formerly Known as Planet)

Eanie-meanie Mini-Me,
A planet you no longer be...!

What in Hades is a Dwarf Planet?

Hades is in fact two things: the Greek name for the Underworld, and the name of its lord (a.k.a. Roman Pluto) as well. Pluto was in charge of several things, but mainly those things you can bank on: taxes, the dead and wealth (hence "plutocrats").

After the strange goings-on at the IAU General Assembly, we are no longer supposed to refer to Pluto as a Planet. Now it is a "Dwarf Planet". That really doesn't mean much of anything, as it is not an officially recognized classification but merely a descriptive phrase for objects that seem very planet-like but are much smaller than all the other planets. Alright-y then.

Pluto also qualifies as a:

• Small Solar System Body (SSSB or, as I like to say, 3SB),
• Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) but wait- those must have orbits OUTSIDE of Neptune's and sometimes Pluto slips INSIDE of that orbit!)
• Kuiper Belt Object/ Edgeworth-Kuiper Object (KBO or EKO) In some ways like the Asteroid Belt, but this one is situated just beyond the orbit of Neptune (the Asteriod Belt is between Mars & Jupiter). Charon, Quaoar, Sedna and 2003 UB313 ("Xena"), Egg-shaped 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9 also belong to this group.
  
• and a prototype for a new classification called a Pluton

But wait! There's more…. (Oh, this really is maddening!)

The orange circle is Jupiter's orbit, and the blue one is Neptune's. The speckles circling outside of Neptune's orbit are objects in the Kuiper Belt. (Image coutesy: NASA/ JPL-Caltech)

Dynamic Duo

Charon (named for the Ferryman of the river Styx to the Underworld) is not that much smaller than Pluto, (and is not really a moon. Together, Pluto and Charon form a double planet or binary planet. These two twirl together around a central point of gravity located in between the two bodies. Like a majorette's twirling baton with the center of mass located in her had, only the balls at the ends are very large and the "wand" is invisible. This center of mass is the focal point of the orbit, or path around the Sun. Their dance keeps them locked in an intensely fixed gaze, forever facing one another at very close range, and forever hiding one side from each another- they never see the other's backside.

This couple does have two known moons, recently named in June 2006: Nix (Greek goddess of darkness and the mother of Charon) and Hydra (the many-headed swamp serpent slain by Hercules in his second Labor. One head was impervious to any weapon and the others, when severed would grow back- sometimes 2 in the same spot) that revolve around this distant and icy dynamic duo forming a mini system all its own. For such a small object, Pluto has a lot going on!

The Pluto-Charon duo is not alone, KBO/EKO 1996 WW31 is another binary object in the Kuiper Belt and I suspect more will be spotted in the not too distant future...

Purple Reign: The Prince and the Pluton

I see this as working out much like the whole "Artist Formerly Known as Prince" (or TAFKAP) deal. A mere 5'2" Prince, like Pluto, is of diminutive physical stature; his presence however, is enormous. Prince, the musical artist, started off as an R&B performer in the late 1970's and exploded into to Pop-Rock stardom in the 1982 with his chart topper "1999". After a dispute with his recording label he became TAFKAP (The Artist formerly known as Prince) and used a symbol for his unpronounceable and apparently un-spell-able name. The contract was set up so that the recording company legally owned his name, no matter that it was his birth-name. Prince was creative enough to find a way around this problem- he shed the old name, declared a new identity and conducted business as usual (performing, recording). Fans still knew who he was and what he did and followed. It was brilliant marketing. When the original binding contract expired, he was able to reclaim his name. In true Pluto style, he transformed himself, regenerating from an old form into a new one.

Pluto has a very strong impact in his birth chart with Scorpio Rising (Pluto is associated with Scorpio) and Pluto conjunct the Midheaven. Add to this an 8th House Sun (Gemini) and here is one heavily Plutonian persona. This seems to be reflected in his huge success as an "underground" musician. Due to his wide range of styles, and the fact that most record labels want to pigeonhole their artists, much of his success was built upon popularity in the dance club circuit-- without any promotion by recording contractors. People heard it and they loved it, so they sought out the artist.
I'm not aware if Prince is into astrology or not, but it is interesting that the symbol he (or a graphic artist) came up with looks remarkably like the Pluto glyph used in Astrology (with a touch o' the Scorpio stinger thrown in for good measure). He still sometimes plays a guitar shaped like the symbol. Check it out at www.wikipedia.com (Prince the Musician).

(Click on the chart for a larger view)



Disco Daze

Personally I think that Pluto should be classified as a CDB or a Celestial Disco Ball, because the best images we have to date of the icy orb look like a lovely coppery, mirrored ball. He likes to party, he likes to boogie, he likes the disco life, oh yeah. A discothèque is a perfect lair for the lord of the Underworld- it is dark with a lot of strange things going on and he gets to reign over the whole seething, writhing, moaning lot. Is that pleasure or pain? With Pluto, it could be either one. Peek at the composite picture here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010319.html

Astrology Shrugs

Astrologically speaking, we will still use him in our charts. We will not be shrinking our palette of planets. Astrologers are not so whimsical as to throw him out- we know better. It's taken several decades to figure out his role as it relates to Astrology, and he has become a potent and invaluable part of an Astrological interpretation- transformer, healer and symbol of what lies in the subconscious (individual and, especially, collective). Besides, Scorpio is unlikely to give up its very own ruling planet without a fight. Next time we'll look at some more juicy charts…

On a personal level, the night before the vote I was having some very bizarre dreams- extremely vivid, with details of color, light, sound, touch and smell. There was disorientation and reorientation, with serious time-warping going on. Like a sleepy diver emerging from deep waters, it was very hard to extract myself from that dimension and wake up to this one. Pluto is a very active player in my chart and it seems something of his subconscious truth was seeping through my unconscious mind.

Don't worry about ol' Pluto. As lord of the Underworld, he'll be waiting oh-so-patiently for those impudent, foolish Astronomers…in Hades. (Insert echoing laughter of villainous satisfaction.)



© Copyright 2006, Julia Steffey- all rights reserved.