Anyone who takes an interest in astronomy would be aware of the controversy that surrounded Pluto’s demotion 12 years ago.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU), astronomy’s governing body, downgraded Pluto from the status of a planet to a dwarf planet, in the year 2006.
Even though NASA has found 20 promising planets that are good for human inhabitation, Pluto continues to have a wide range of supporters throughout the world. Cara Lucy O Connor, a 6 year old schoolgirl in Glasheen, Co Cork, Ireland has emerged as one of the biggest supporters of Pluto recently.
What did she do?
Cara wrote to some of the most distinguished people in the field of astronomy requesting them to restore Pluto’s respect by reinstating it as our solar system’s 9th planet. She wrote in her letter, “I listened to a few songs about Pluto as well, and in one of the videos people were dressed as different planets, and Pluto was put in the trash can and was scared by planet Earth. This was really mean because no one or no planet or dwarf planets should be put in the trash can.”
Cara also informed NASA that she is interested in becoming an astronaut and working for them in the future but wants this problem fixed first. Her letter to NASA was more a hope rather than an expectation to receive a response. However, she did receive a reply from a senior scientist, Carly Howett, on the New Horizons spacecraft.
Response from New Horizons spacecraft Dr Howett encouraged Cara stating that it was great for youngsters like her, especially girls, to find planets interesting. She explained about the divided views on Pluto’s stature, and suggested that there is not much in a name.
In her letter Dr Howett wrote, “I think Pluto is very important, but Pluto probably doesn’t care what silly people on the Earth call it. So I just call it my favourite world and let other people argue about it.”
It was NASA’s new Horizons space probe that discovered Pluto not having an inert icy world as many people had expected. Instead, it had a fascinating landscape consisting of glaciers, water ice and mountains.
Dr Howard thereafter passed on Cara’s letter to the director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, Dr James Green.
NASA’s response
Dr James Green also wrote back to Cara, complimenting her on her inquisitiveness and reasoning. He informed her that Pluto wasn’t a boring cratered rock, but actually a fascinating and constantly changing world.
The decision whether the Pluto’s status as a planet would be restored or not rests with IAU and not NASA. However, being the topmost space agency of the world and one that also dispatched to the New Horizons probe to a distant planet, NASA has great influence on any such decisions.
In his response, Dr Green seemed non-committed to the changing Pluto’s stature, stating, “To me, it’s not so much about whether Pluto is a dwarf planet or not: it’s that Pluto is a fascinating place that we need to continue to study.”
While back on earth, in Ireland, climate change initiatives of Cool Planet Champions like Damien Kilgannon are making a huge difference, it’s good news that the future of Ireland is in the safe hands of ambitious girls like Cara.
Cara has big ambitions and aims to discover her own planet one day. She hopes to call it Planet Unicorn.
