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Dwarf planet · Kuiper Belt

Eris

The One That Changed the Rules

The SunEris
Eris, on its way round the Sun. Drawn to be seen, not to scale: the order and the direction are real.

Eris: about Pluto's size but heavier, whose discovery in 2005 forced astronomers to define the word 'planet'.

What the song is built on

  • About Pluto's size but heavier
  • Finding it in 2005 forced the world to define the word 'planet'
  • Its year lasts about 558 of ours
  • Named for the goddess of discord, which fits what it caused

Established astronomy. The music is an interpretation of it — see the curatorial policy.

SoundDramatic dark orchestral, discordant strings resolving late, low brass stabs, operatic female vocal, 88 BPM, defiant and cold

Lyrics
[Intro] They named me for discord After what I caused [Verse 1] Two thousand five, a point of light Three times farther out than Pluto goes And when they weighed me, the answer came back heavy Heavier than the ninth, and everybody knows What happens next: you either call me ten Or you take the word apart They took the word apart, and Pluto fell And I became the reason, and the heart [Chorus] I am the one that changed the rules Not by breaking anything, just by being there To count me in, they had to count a dozen more So they drew a line instead, and left us out there [Verse 2] Five hundred fifty-eight years to circle once So far the Sun is just a brighter star Minus two thirty on my surface Methane frost on everything I am Dysnomia turns around me, my one moon Named for the daughter of strife Out past the belt, out past the maps A whole existence, a distant life [Bridge] They say I demoted Pluto I only stood where I was born The sky was always bigger than the story Somebody had to prove it, and be scorned [Final Chorus] I am the one that changed the rules Not by breaking anything, just by being there To count me in, they had to count a dozen more So they drew a line instead, and left us out there [Outro] Discord. That was the name they chose. I just kept my orbit.

Solar System — 2026 Founding Edition — one of 30 songs.