Pluto Still a Planet, as This New Moon Proves

If Pluto isn't a planet, then why does it have so many moons?


The Hubble Space Telescope has provided evidence of yet another satellite orbiting the erstwhile Ninth Planet in our Solar System. This one is unimaginatively titled P5, presumably an abbreviation for Pluto's 5th Satellite. It follows by a year the discovery of another moon, P4, also discovered by Hubble.


Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh way back in 1930. Its largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978. For many years, the one planet-one moon tradition was accepted worldwide. But some dastardly elements of the astronomical community got together, got enough funding and influence, and got Pluto downsized.


Pluto, you'll remember, was demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, to the hue and cry of science teachers bemoaning the impending purchase of new eight-planet Solar System models for their classrooms. Oddly, in the same year, Hubble found two other moons orbiting Pluto. These were given the names Nix and Hydra. 


Now that Hubble has found even more satellites, surely the promotion of Pluto can't be far behind. These should be big times for the Little Planet That Used to Be. A NASA spacecraft will finally reach flyby status in 2015. That's just three short years away. Surely in that year, we will discover enough evidence to prove that Pluto is indeed a planet. Just because it's smaller than other objects orbiting the Sun doesn't mean it isn't still a planet. The Pluto nay-sayers would be hard-pressed to come up a comet or some other form of heavenly body that has so many things orbiting it. 


Pluto the Planet in 2015!