Children are all naturally born scientists, with an incredible curiosity about the world around them. As adults, our job is to foster that spark so they can carry it throughout their lives.
“Kids are sources of chaos and disorder. Get over that fact,” science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson said on the Impact Theory podcast. “Where does the disorder come from? It’s because they are experimenting with their environment. Everything is new to them, everything. Your job is less to instill curiosity than to make sure you don’t squash what is already there.”
Another job we have as adults is to make sure children are learning science correctly, which is why a toddler’s pajama shirt featuring the solar system is going viral on Reddit. It seems nobody at the clothing manufacturer took the time to review the science behind the graphic. In fact, it’s safe to say most kids as young as six could easily spot the flaws in the PJs.
5 mistakes on the shirt that are easy to spot
- Jupiter appears on the shirt as spotted, rather than striped as it does through a telescope. Although it’s known for its Great Red Spot, here it looks more like a strawberry.
- Saturn appears spotted, like a chocolate chip cookie, rather than banded as it does in real life.
- Neptune, a giant ice planet, is shown as cratered, like Mercury.
- Mercury, conversely, is shown as a black-and-blue striped planet, more like Neptune.
- Uranus is shown as the largest planet in the graphic, but in reality, it is about the same size as Neptune.
This is total conjecture, but it seems the graphic designer may have mislabeled Mercury as Neptune and Neptune as Mercury.
The actual solar system
Reddit commenters also pointed out the questionable font, noting that the “o,” with its cursive-style tail, makes the word “moon” look like “Meeh.” And, to get super nitpicky, if this is meant to be an unbiased look at the solar system, why is there only one moon on the shirt when there are hundreds in our solar system, depending on how they’re defined?
The PJs’ astronomically incorrect design even bothered those in the scientific community.
“As a professional science communicator who works a lot with space at this age group, I am disappointed to see an adult get something wrong that any 6-year-old in the U.K. would correct,” Dr. Mark Gallaway told Newsweek.
Although the shirt may be wrong in many ways, it could be a blessing in disguise. The parent who purchased these PJs now has an opportunity for a teachable moment. They can take the pajamas and compare them to the actual solar system to see where the designer got things right or wrong. It’s also a chance to bring up one of the sad truths about the universe: Pluto isn’t among the PJ planets, because it was demoted. Thanks, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
