Humans are funny beasts. One day something is considered one thing, then a bunch of experts comes along and changes everything. I was happy growing up as a kid safe in the knowledge that our solar system had nine planets minding their own business orbiting the sun. And it had likely been that way for 4.5 billion earth years.

In 1930 a bunch of people decided Pluto, a small little lump of ice and rock at the outer extremities was a planet. Good for Pluto! And then, in 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided it wasn’t. They created a series of criteria by which a planet could be considered a planet, and included a final criteria that a planet has to exist in its own ornital zone. Oh dear, poor Pluto shares its orbital zone and so it was demoted to a ‘dwarf planet’. It was ‘Plutoed’ (a word that was later recognised as a new word by the American Dialect Society – yay for them!).

So, all that science I learnt as a kid –  wrong. now there are eight planets. And what are the chances of it being reinstated at some point again? high I’d say. Just takes a bunch of weird humans to change their minds. A bit like making maps using AI really. One day they’re great. the next, those damn map-makers are Plutoed.

Anyway, I feel bad for Pluto, but at least it gets a day here on Earth, and on our blog. Happy Plutoed Day Pluto.

Original Prompt (ChatGPT)

In 2006 the Interrnational Astronomical Union decided that Pluto was no longer a planet. Can you create a satirical map of our galaxy showing the sun and the other planets making fun of Pluto’s lost status. Keep it fun and humorous, but also geographically correct in terms of the relative position of the planets and their orbit around the sun.