APPLETON, WIS. — Even our own solar system isn’t immune to downsizing, as unlucky Pluto discovered earlier this year when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded its status from planet to “dwarf planet.”
Lawrence University astrophysicist Megan Pickett sorts through the controversy surrounding Pluto’s status, why its new designation makes sense and ultimately why it doesn’t really matter in the Lawrence University Science Hall Colloquium “Confessions of a Pluto Hater.” The address, Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 4:45 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102, is free and open to the public.
On August 24, amid much fanfare and after decades of contenious debate, the IAU — the governing body of astronomers and astrophysicists responsible for classifying and naming celestial objects — officially removed Pluto from the list of nine planets in our solar system. The announcement was met with mixed reaction among astronomers and astrophysicists. Some hailed the reclassification as a “triumph of rationality over sentimentality,” while others argued that the new designation made little sense, was too vague or was just plain mean.
A self-proclaimed “Pluto hater” who has long argued against planetary status for the tiny sphere of rock and ice, Pickett joined the Lawrence physics department in the fall of 2006 after six years on the faculty at Purdue University Calumet. A specialist in the origins of solar systems and star formation, she has served on several NASA review panels as well as on the 2006 National Science Foundation Review Panel on exoplanets.
Pickett earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Cornell University, a master’s degree in astronomy from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Indiana University.
