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Astronomycast, episode 194 from Monday, June 14, 2010. The Wharf Planets.

Welcome to Astronomycast, our weekly facts based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know but how we know what we know.

My name is Fraser Cain, I'm the publisher of the universe today and with me is Dr. Pamela Gay, a professor at Southern Illinois University at Rutzville.

I Pamela, how are you doing?

I'm doing well, how are you doing Fraser?

Good, I hear you've been infested with groundhogs.

We have a giant, just one, one rodent of unusual size, eating in our backyard and it's really, really cute.

Oh, it's adorable until they tear your whole yard apart and make it usable.

Yeah, but we've already got moles and squirrels and yeah, I'm not worried.

Just give it back to nature.

Yep.

All right, well in 2006, the International Astronomically Union demoted Pluto out of the Planet Club.

But they also started up a whole new dwarf planet club with Pluto, Eris, and the asteroid series as charter members.

Let's find out what it takes to be a dwarf planet and discuss the current membership.

All right, well now, the first episode of astronomy cast was us talking about why Pluto is no longer a planet.

I was hoping we could do an update, you know, Pluto back in the planet club.

Nope.

Nope.

So then it's really kind of official.

Let's follow it up.

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