Text books
aside, there are hundreds if not thousands of products that were or are now on
the market that include Pluto as the ninth planet of the solar system.
On
Thursday, 424 astronomers voted to strip the small body of its planethood.
Instead, Pluto is now categorized a "dwarf planet," one of hundreds
that might be identified in the coming months and years.
In essence,
the International Astronomical Union decided that when it came to planets,
eight really was enough.
This may be
bad news for Pluto fans, but for collectors, it presents an opportunity.
Nine
little polystyrene balls
It's the
universal child's science project: a polystyrene ball model of the solar system.
Today it comes in kits with nine balls--one for each planet--ready to be colored
with the included paint. Soon though, those same kits are likely to start
shipping sans a sphere.
The same is
true for mobiles, glow-in-the-dark decal sets, orreries (mechanical models) and
charts of all sizes.
An article
from the Associated Press suggests modified solar system toys may be on store
shelves in time for Christmas.
Of course,
that means a clearance on Pluto products. A Pluto "going out of
business" sale, so to speak.
And while
these toys and models may attract speculative collectors, they are more likely
to seek items that weren't mass-produced or are older and thus harder to find.
Get your
icy Pluto while it's still hot
Consider
the autograph of Pluto's discoverer, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
During the
nearly 70 years that followed his discovery up until his death in 1997,
Tombaugh was generous with his signature. A search of eBay and similar websites
display multiple examples where Tombaugh, in addition to writing his name,
wrote a phrase along the lines of "Discovered 9th planet Pluto on 18 Feb
1930."
As of
today, Tombaugh didn't discover the ninth planet. He found the first dwarf, but
if you find a signature that is inscribed as such, caveat emptor.
On October
1, 1991, the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of ten stamps--one for each planet
and Earth's moon--under the title "Space Exploration". The set
depicted the probes that the United States had launched to each body.
Of course
in 1991, as with today, no probe had been to Pluto. So on its stamp, was just
an artist rendering of the icy sphere with the caption "Not Yet
Explored".
In 2006
though, NASA did launch a mission to Pluto.
New
Horizons needs a new tagline
On February
14, 1990, NASA's Voyager 1 probe pointed back toward the sun and took a series
of pictures of the sun and the planets, making the first ever
"portrait" of our solar system as seen from the outside.
All but
Pluto, that is.
The
then-ninth planet's highly elliptical orbit kept it out of the frame for
Voyager. Its distance gave even the Hubble Space Telescope a challenge of
resolving any detail on its surface. A dedicated spacecraft to Pluto was
needed.
Nineteen
days into 2006, NASA launched New Horizons, which the space agency dubbed its
"first mission to the last planet."
New
Horizons is still on-course for Pluto--it hasn't been diverted to Neptune--and will arrive in 2015. That gives mission planners more than eight years to
establish their new mission statement.
In the
meantime, any posters, decals or other promotional paraphernalia with the
"last planet" slogan are sure to be sought by collectors.
The
future is as fuzzy as Pluto through Hubble
Time will
tell how strong the market for Pluto products really is and much of it depends
on whether the public embraces the astronomers' resolution or decides to keep
Pluto a planet, at least culturally.
If the
demotion sticks though, Pluto also runs the risk of being lost among the
hundreds of dwarfs that are sure to follow its reclassification.
Whatever
may be, the hot toy this Christmas may just be a polystyrene solar system kit,
Pluto not included.
Defining Moments: The Saga's History
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