Illinois: Pluto is a Planet
Posted in: science, space, Today's Chili
Illinois’ state government has declared that Pluto is a planet, in an attempt to bypass the International Astronomical Union’s 2006 ruling to reclassify the icy world as a member of the Kuiper belt, Discover reports.
The decree reads as follows: “RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that as Pluto passes overhead through Illinois’ night skies, that it be reestablished with full planetary status, and that March 13, 2009 be declared ‘Pluto Day’ in the State of Illinois in honor of the date its discovery was announced in 1930.”
Apparently this has something to do with the fact that Clyde Tombaugh, the fellow who discovered Pluto in 1930, was born in Illinois. The state government also said something about how Tombaugh is the only American to discover a planet, forgetting the hundreds of planets Americans have since discovered orbiting other stars. Hey, at least Illinois found something to take our minds off of Blagojevich.
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