Chris Higgins
Airing TONIGHT: The Pluto Files
by Chris Higgins - March 2, 2010 - 9:45 AM

Tonight (March 2, 2010) on NOVA: The Pluto Files, featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, about the controversy over the “demotion” of Pluto from planetary status in 2006. NOVA airs at 8pm in most markets, on PBS — check your local listings here.

Way back in 2000, Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, was faced with a dilemma. In displaying the solar system, he and his team had to figure out what to do with Pluto. The ninth planet, Pluto was much smaller and much farther away from the sun than the other planets in the display. It also had an unusual orbit and a few other odd properties. So the team didn’t include Pluto in their main solar system exhibit, instead relegating it to a section downstairs amongst other Kuiper Belt objects. And then everybody went nuts.

NOVA’s program The Pluto Files explores the controversy from all sides — deGrasse Tyson interviews scientists who have opposing views, interviews the Tombaugh family (descendants of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto), and even interviewed the scientist who discovered the “tenth planet” (Eris) — something I’d never even heard of. The question here is twofold: first, what is a planet? And second, why is the demotion of Pluto such a hugely emotional issue for people? Both are discussed in some depth in the program, and a good conclusion is reached — but I won’t spoil it here.

The good news: there’s plenty of material for both “sides” of the debate here. Honestly, deGrasse Tyson himself seems to have been cast as the villain here — something he’s willing to ham up on occasion — but from a scientific perspective, his attitude is not at all black and white. So whatever you think about Pluto, this is worth watching. Also, it’s totally family-friendly — grab the kids and sit down for some fun science programming tonight!

Bonus: read some real hate mail from a third grader here. Seriously. Also, a trailer for The Pluto Files. Finally, here’s a brief interview with deGrasse Tyson about the situation:

Another interesting bit: NASA’s New Horizons craft, which arrives at Pluto in 2015 — with the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh onboard.

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Comments (14)

  1. I am so excited about this! You really didn’t know about Eris? I thought that was part of the reason this whole thing came up in the first place.

    posted by tinkerschnitzel on 3-2-2010 at 9:51 am

  2. Is this program going to be put online or released on DVD? I really want to watch it, but I’m not in the country right now.

    posted by BlueAloe on 3-2-2010 at 10:20 am

  3. Pluto is there, and it is what it is, not matter what label we use to refer to it.

    posted by JFS in IL on 3-2-2010 at 10:55 am

  4. @BlueAloe, episodes of NOVA are online after the program airs. HOWEVER, did I miss the announcement on Mental Floss that said this site will now shill for PBS? I sure hope PBS is paying MF for it’s space.

    posted by Bubba on 3-2-2010 at 11:23 am

  5. Bubba’s right! PBS is going to make big bucks off this show and MF should get its cut!

    posted by Rufus T. Harlemberry on 3-2-2010 at 12:45 pm

  6. @Bubba – what an awful thing to say. Shame on you. I’m pointing out great free science programming that I think is of interest to our readers. Of course PBS/WGBH is not paying me or the site a dime, or providing any other compensation. In fact, it takes me extra time to cover these shows as I have to watch them, take notes, then write them up. What is your problem?

    posted by Chris Higgins on 3-2-2010 at 12:54 pm

  7. I love the third grader hate mail… those letters are simply fantastic! And to summarize their feelings with my ReCaptcha: world groaned

    posted by Ophelia on 3-2-2010 at 2:02 pm

  8. What Bubba doesn’t understand Chris is that Science doesn’t care what you or I think, it it what it is. There are no opinions, only facts, which drives people like Bubba crazy.

    Good scientific programming is viewed as being liberal, which it isn’t, just percieved that way by Rushbots and the like.

    Keep up the good work Chris, I am looking forward to seeing what this show puts out.

    posted by Allen on 3-2-2010 at 2:05 pm

  9. Thanks for posting this – I am super excited to check it out tonight!

    posted by kimmy on 3-2-2010 at 2:06 pm

  10. I wouldn’t be surprised in my 10 year old wrote a “hate” letter regarding Pluto.

    Every time we see anything relating to this issue we point it out to my son, and he adamantly insists that Pluto IS a planet and he is genuinely angry at any other suggestion.

    My husband has the Revolve in Peace t-shirt, but I sure wish it was available in kids size 12!

    posted by Karen on 3-2-2010 at 6:18 pm

  11. Is Neil deGrasse Tyson the new Bill Nye? Or maybe astrology’s answer to Bill Nye? Whatever the case may be, his love of astrology and science just permeates everything he does, and his shows, specials, and interviews are always highly enjoyable. We need more guys like him to make science fun for our children (and adults).

    posted by Justin on 3-3-2010 at 12:44 am

  12. Karen, your son is right. Pluto IS a planet. The problem is that the four percent of the IAU who voted to demote Pluto–a decision even Tyson called “flawed”–made a political decision that was anything but objective. Most who voted are not planetary scientists, and their decision was rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers in a formal petition led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Tyson captured the essence of the issue by illustrating that this is a subject of an ongoing debate, and that there is no consensus among astronomers about Pluto’s planet status. I encourage you and your son to read Alan Boyle’s book “The Case for Pluto.” You’ll find out more definitively that neither viewpoint about Pluto is more legitimate or factual than the other.

    posted by Laurel Kornfeld on 3-3-2010 at 12:48 am

  13. it’s pronounce “your-ay-mus” not “your-in-us”
    Let the whole world giggle a little bit about a plant that sounds like a butthole.

    posted by cajun bob on 3-3-2010 at 9:09 am

  14. Puh-leeeeze. I’ve been watching NOVA since before (I’ll bet) a number of Flossees were born. I still don’t think it is worth it to hawk commercials (sorry, that’s how I see it)on this site. Maybe there should be a TV section where stuff like this can be addressed, but that would be quite a narrow list since it really wouldn’t make sense to do commercials on shows on pay-TV channels, like Discovery, The Science Channel, The History Channel, etc. What I’ve always enjoyed about this site is how I learn additional stuff about topics that have been covered elsewhere. For example, how about writing an article on Pluto, or the debate, that covers what NOVA didn’t? But when I just read what amounts to a commercial, I turn off. The only reason I wrote about this one is because astronmy is of great interest to me. As for your question “what’s wrong with me?” Maybe I’ve come to expect more from Mental Floss than this.

    posted by Bubba on 3-3-2010 at 3:22 pm

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