Why Arizona chose to name dwarf planet Pluto as its 'official state planet'?

The US state of Arizona has decided to name Pluto, the ninth member of the solar system, as its state emblem, except it is not really a planet.

Governor Katie Hobbs has signed a bill, making Pluto, a ‘dwarf’ planet,  Arizona’s “official state planet”.

Pluto was stripped of its status nearly two decades ago by the International Astronomical Union as it didn’t qualify certain criteria to be categorised as a full-fledged planet, but that didn’t lessen the state’s liking for the ‘dwarf’ planet.

First sighted at Lowell Observatory in Arizona on Feb. 18, 1930, Pluto remains the only planet to be discovered in the United States, when astronomer Clyde Tombaugh captured an image of the distant object using a blink comparator machine.

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‘Think of Arizona, think of Pluto’

Calling Pluto’s discovery as a “major astronomical achievement” for the state, Representative Justin Wilmeth, a Republican member of the Arizona House who sponsored the bill, saying the state hasn’t “forgotten about you (Pluto). We still love you.”

Wilmeth said Pluto being downgraded and questioning its status as a planet is not the point of the bill instead, “It’s to honour our state heritage, our state history and our strong astronomy background that we have in this state, both in Flagstaff and Tucson.”

Lowell Observatory Historian Kevin Schindler said the move lauded the strong scientific connection between Arizona and Pluto’s discovery. “You think of cactus, you think of Arizona. You think of Pluto, you think of Arizona. That’s what we wanted,” Schindler added.

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But not everyone agrees to Pluto’s rising status in the state, Senator Sally Ann Gonzales, one among the five senators who voted against the bill, said, “Scientifically, they took it out of being a planet.” Lawmakers must take scientific findings into account, “something that we as a Legislature, as a body, sometimes omit," Gonzales added.

After signing the bill on Friday, Gov. Katie Hobbs dodged a question about whether or not Pluto is a full-fledged planet, The Arizona Daily Star reported, and instead focused on the planet’s importance for the state.

“I am proud of Arizona’s pioneering work in space discovery,” Hobbs said.

Although Pluto has achieved a spherical shape as a planet, it lacks the necessary size to assert gravitational dominance and clear its orbital path of other celestial bodies. It joins the list of five dwarf planets in our solar system.

Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris are the other four dwarf planets in solar system.