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Save Pluto! Vistancia Residents Take To The Internet To Decide Declassified Planet's Fate
Date Published: Apr 26, 2007

SAVE PLUTO! VISTANCIA RESIDENTS TAKE TO THE INTERNET TO DECIDE DECLASSIFIED PLANET'S FATE

More than 75 years ago, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh peered through his telescope at Flagstaff's Lowell Observatory and discovered - at least until last August - what was our solar system's ninth planet, Pluto.

This prevailing solar system model formed the blueprint for Vistancia's Solar Garden, constructed in 2004 and believed to be the only such astronomy garden within an Arizona master planned community. Vistancia is located northwest of Lake Pleasant Road and Happy Valley Parkway in north Peoria.

Now, with the planet having been officially "plutoed" by the International Astronomical Union, residents in this community are wondering just what to do with their Solar Garden's ninth planet.

Their plan? Save the little planet.

Residents are taking to the Web to vote for whether the planet should stay or go. The special online vote begins April 28 and runs through May 9, with the results scheduled to be announced to residents during a special Astronomy Night in the solar garden on May 25.

"We think Pluto's getting a raw deal," said Todd Davidson, Vistancia's community manager. "We want to find out if our residents feel the same way."

Vistancia's Solar Garden is truly special. Everything in the garden is proportionate to the actual solar system. As hikers walk down a downwardly spiral path,

scaled models of the planets hang from educational panels, which are backlit and imprinted with information about each planet. The distance between each planetary model is proportionate to the distance between the planets in the solar system. At the heart of the spiral, a concrete sun, 12 feet in diameter, takes center stage in an amphitheater designed for educational presentations.

On May 25, the Solar Garden will form the backdrop for the community's first ever Astronomy Night. Vistancia, a dark sky community, will set up telescopes for residents to peer into the evening sky.

"Who knows?" said Davidson. "Maybe we'll discover our own planet."