Pluto is a lot of things: a Roman god, a cartoon dog, Scorpio's ruler, an Eddie Murphy character and the inspiration for a surplus of space rock bands. But after 76 years, it's no longer a planet.

In August 2006, members of the International Astronomical Union, the authority on celestial bodies, bumped Pluto from the official list of planets, classifying it instead as a "dwarf" planet.

Dissenting astronomers are planning to meet well ahead of the IAU's 2009 general meeting to propose a different definition of the word planet -- one that may reinstate Pluto's status -- but non-scientists have already chimed in.

'Pluto Rocks'
One Pluto supporter is Arun Lakra, a 39-year-old Calgary, Alberta, ophthalmologist and a neophyte planetary rights activist. "There's this part of me that feels that maybe that decision is not necessarily theirs to make," he said.

Lakra recorded a "partly fun, partly serious" song titled "Pluto Rocks," in support of the ninth rock from the sun. It's one of many new songs posted online that reflect the shock, anger and sadness felt by Pluto fans around the world.

"Can't you be a scientist and still a romantic?" Lakra's song asks, arguing that Pluto should keep its planetary status because nonscientists have accepted it as one for so long.

"The hope was that if other people felt the same way, they would download the song and we could mount some sort of protest," he said.

But after three months, tens of thousands of hits, a flood of comments and national media attention in Canada -- and after the payment processing company took its 10 percent commission -- Lakra said he's raised about 3.60 Canadian dollars (U.S.$3.16) from sales of his song.
 
"I don't think we're going to change the world with those dollars," he said.

Online petitioners have similarly tried to rally ordinary folk to the cause. Pleasesavepluto.org has collected more than 1,000 signatures in one online petition, but its initiator, Dipankar Subba, a technology director at a Singapore legal service firm, thinks he needs about 100,000 to influence the IAU.

'When I was your age, Pluto was a planet'
Other Web sites are less about social activism and more about just being social.

Hundreds of groups and profiles have been posted on social networking sites. On Facebook, one group entitled "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet," boasted 700,000 members as of early November 2006. In the group's discussion board, members have been reminiscing about nine-planet mnemonics learned from a "Saved by the Bell" television episode, while also generating new ones of their own -- "My Very Educated Mother," for instance, now "Just Served Us Nachos" instead of "Nine Pizzas."
 
The interest from fans has proved lucrative for merchants -- some of whom support the protesters, and some of whom just want to make a buck. The phrases "Size doesn't matter," "Pluto 2006: Running as an Independent Candidate," and "Mommy, if Pluto is too small to be a planet, am I too small to be a person?" have appeared on T-shirts, bumper stickers and other novelties.

At Cafepress.com, a make-your-own-merchandise Web site with 3,000,000 registered designers, the outpouring of emotion, indicated by the spike in Pluto designs, was of the level usually reserved for hot political topics.

"We didn't necessarily expect [Pluto] to be a big hit from a merchandise standpoint. So it did take us by surprise. Obviously, a pleasant surprise," said Cafepress.com spokesman Marc Cowlin.

Interest in most news-related designs usually drops off within two weeks, Cowlin said, but three months later new Pluto designs are still appearing: There are now 2,500 of them on Cafepress.com, appearing on some 50,000 products.

Saying good-bye
At the Smithsonian Institution's model solar system on Washington's National Mall, mourners have left flowers and condolence messages at the plaque marking Pluto's position.
 
One message read, "Pluto -- You'll continue to be #9 in our textbooks ... #1 in our hearts."

Another read, simply, "We'll miss you," signed by the eight planets with official IAU endorsement -- for now.

"I get this sense, from everything that's happened, there's just enough people out there that actually do feel in a similar fashion," Lakra said.

"And if this filters up to the kind of people who have the authority, and make those decisions, then you never really know."

-- By Adnaan Wasey, Online NewsHour