PHOENIX — As far as Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Legislature are concerned, Pluto now belongs to Arizona — to the extent a state can “own’’ a planet.
But Hobbs dodged the question of whether Pluto is a full-fledged planet or something else.
The governor signed legislation Friday designating Pluto as Arizona’s “official state planet.” It joins a list of other items the state has declared to be “official,’’ ranging from turquoise as the state gemstone and copper as the state metal to the Sonorasaurus as the state dinosaur.
“I am proud of Arizona’s pioneering work in space discovery,” Hobbs said.
What makes Pluto unique and ripe for claim by Arizona is that it is the only planet actually discovered in the United States, and the discovery was made in Flagstaff.
Rep. Justin Wilmeth, a Phoenix Republican and self-described “history nerd,’’ said that needed to be commemorated, starting with the legacy of astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. In 1930, Tombaugh was working at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.
“The whole story of Clyde is just amazing, just sitting there under the telescope’’ looking for planets by taking photos over a period of time, said Wilmeth.
“It was two different glass planes that had one little spec of light moving in a different direction,’’ showing it wasn’t just another star — and all by observation and not computers. “To me, that’s something that’s just mind boggling.’’
Only thing is, the International Astronomical Union voted years ago to strip Pluto of its official status as a planet.
That decision was based, at least in part, on the definition of a planet as not just something that revolves around the sun but that can “clear the neighboring region of other objects.’’ Pluto has such a small gravitational pull, has not attracted and absorbed other space rocks in its orbit.
So, officially speaking, Pluto is now a “dwarf planet.’’ Wilmeth doesn’t care.
“It might matter to some that are going to get picky or persnickety about stuff,’’ he said.
What is important, Wilmeth said, is remembering the history and promoting it, something he said is no different than the monuments to the USS Arizona.
“Maybe they’ll see this on the news tonight or this weekend and go, ‘What the hell’s that about?’ ‘’ he said.
“Then they’ll go look it up and go, ‘Oh, that happened in Flagstaff,’ ‘’ Wilmeth continued. “And then they’ll say ‘Maybe I should go check this place out.’ So maybe it’s part tourism, too.’’
Still, the lack of official planet status bothered some.
“Scientifically, they took it out of being a planet,’’ said Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, one of five senators who voted against the measure. She said lawmakers should always consider scientific information, “something that we as a Legislature, as a body, sometimes omit.’’
Wilmeth said he believes this will be debated for a long time, but that in some ways, it’s irrelevant.
“There’s several generations of Americans … who believe that Pluto’s a planet — or at least that’s what we were taught,’’ he said. “I’m never going to think differently. That’s just my personal opinion.’’
Sen. Rosanna Gabaldon said her opposition was more basic.
“We have many other topics we should be voting on, discussing, passing, having the governor sign into statute,’’ said the Green Valley Democrat. “It’s just one of those things that I don’t think is important.
Not all the votes against the legislation were based on some scientific, political or deeply held philosophical beliefs.
“I did not want to discriminate against those who wanted Mars, Venus, Jupiter, or everyone’s favorite, Uranus,’’ quipped Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale.
Turns out, snow forms much differently on Pluto than it does here on Earth!
