In Memorium

In commemoration of Pluto's demotion from the ranks of planets, I purchased a placemat today.



Now that it's out-of-date, its price is going to skyrocket, right?

I suppose the good thing about all this is that Pluto is no longer an oddball. It has plenty of friends just like it: Xena, Santa, Ixion, Quaoar, and the rest.

I think kids should first learn the four terrestrial planets and the four gas giants, then learn the four largest asteroids and the four largest trans-Neptunian objects, then maybe differentiate between plutinos and cubewanos and Scattered Disk Objects and learn the four largest of each of those.

From Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. . .
to Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars; Vesta, Ceres, Pallas, Hygiea; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; Pluto, "Santa", "Easterbunny", "Xena". . .
to Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars; Vesta, Ceres, Pallas, Hygiea; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; Pluto, Orcus, Ixion, Huya; UX₂₅, "Santa", Quaoar, "Easterbunny"; TC₃₀₂, "Buffy", "Xena", Sedna. . .
to. . .

And yes, that Buffy.