Arizona has purportedly designated Pluto as its “official state planet.” However, Pluto is not a planet and was demoted to “dwarf planet” status several years ago.
According to The Arizona Daily Star, Governor Katie Hobbs signed legislation on Friday, March 29. When asked if Pluto is a planet, she just ignored the issue. “I am proud of Arizona’s pioneering work in space discovery,” Hobbs was quoted as saying.
Pluto is the only planet discovered in the United States
Pluto was discovered in 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. Pluto is the only planet discovered in the United States.
“The whole story of Clyde is just amazing, just sitting there under the telescope’’ looking for planets by taking photos over a period of time,” said Arizona state Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix), who praised the Pluto legislation.
Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (D-Tucson), who is one of five senators who voted against the measure, said, “ “Scientifically, they took it out of being a planet.” She added that lawmakers must take scientific information into account, “something that we as a Legislature, as a body, sometimes omit.’’
The International Astronomical Union voted in 2006 to remove Pluto from the list of planets, arguing that the icy object at the edge of the solar system did not fulfill the correct definition of a planet. It was subsequently categorized as a “dwarf planet.”
Pluto is categorized as a dwarf planet
According to Britannica, Pluto is categorized as a dwarf planet because, “while it is large enough to have become spherical, it is not big enough to exert its orbital dominance and clear the neighborhood surrounding its orbit.” Pluto’s “demolition” represented a “break from tradition” for many people around the world. It was “a positive step forward into a new light, new knowledge, and changing perspectives of the universe.”
According to the NASA Science website, the reclassification of Pluto sparked significant criticism. “As the textbooks were updated, the internet spawned memes with Pluto going through a range of emotions, from anger to loneliness. But since the release of New Horizons images showing a very prominent heart-shaped feature on the surface, the sad Pluto meme has given way to a very content, loving Pluto that would like to once again be visited by a spacecraft,” it stated.