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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION



2 WHEREAS, Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of the planet Pluto, 
3was born on a farm near the
Illinois community of Streator; and


4 WHEREAS, Dr. Tombaugh served as a researcher at the 
5prestigious Lowell Observatory
in Flagstaff, Arizona; and


6 WHEREAS, Dr. Tombaugh first detected the presence of Pluto 
7in 1930; and

8 WHEREAS, Dr. Tombaugh is the only Illinoisan and the only 
9American to ever discover a
planet; and

10 WHEREAS, For more than 75 years, Pluto was considered the 
11ninth planet of the Solar
System; and

12 WHEREAS, A spacecraft called New Horizons was launched in 
13January of 2006 to explore
Pluto in 2015 with Dr. Tombaugh's 
14ashes aboard the spacecraft; and

15 WHEREAS, Pluto has 5 moons: Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, 
16and Styx; and


17 WHEREAS, Pluto's average orbit is more than 3 billion miles 
18from the sun; and


 
 
HR0225- 2 -LRB099 10979 MST 31335 r


1 WHEREAS, Pluto was unfairly downgraded to a "dwarf" planet 
2in a vote in which only 4% of the International Astronomical 
3Union's 10,000 scientists participated; and


4 WHEREAS, Many respected astronomers believe Pluto's full 
5planetary status should be
restored; therefore, be it


6 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
7NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
8urge the International Astronomical Union to restore Pluto to 
9full planetary status; and be it further

10 RESOLVED, That we declare 2015 as "The Year of Pluto" in 
11honor of Dr. Clyde Tombaugh and the discoveries to be made by 
12the New Horizons spacecraft; and be it further


13 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
14delivered to the International Astronomical Union.