Excerpt from an interview...
"Pluto... now that's the one that really interests me. It's the most distant planet by far, 39 times farther from the Sun than Earth. It takes 247 Earth years to go around the Sun just once. Think of it -- only one Christmas every 247 years! Plenty of time to retool between holidays. And the Plutonian day lasts six Earth days and 18 hours. I could really take my time delivering gifts. Not that it would take long anyway. Pluto's the tiniest planet in the solar system. Why, some people claim it's not a planet at all. Silly, that's what I say...of course it's a planet!"
"Pluto's got real possibilities," he warmed to his theme. "I say we've got to hurry up with planetary exploration. Mars tomorrow, then Jupiter and onward to Pluto! Once we get to Pluto, I might just set up shop there and the human race can keep my calendar. Christmas once every 247 years. That might make things a bit easier - I'm not as young as I once was...." Santa looked thoughtful.
Christmas only once every 247 years? Was Santa serious? Suddenly an impish smile crossed his face. "Now how many children would stand for Christmas once every 247 years?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. "I suppose we'll just have to keep doing it once a year as always."
Does this mean a certain 424 IAU members and the astronomers who adamantly support their decision get annual gifts of coal in their stockings?
ReplyDeleteActually, Ceres is the smallest planet, and Eris is the furthest from the Sun. Eris' orbit takes about 550 Earth years, so that would provide an even longer interval between solstices and equinoxes.
Thanks so much for this interview. Any way you look at it, Santa definitely trumps the IAU!
Yes, they get coal but they are under soooooo much pressure, the coal has turned to diamonds.
ReplyDeleteI think the spirit of Santa trumps everything.