9th Rock from the Sun – a planet or not?
by Doc on Aug.14, 2006, under Science
I thought I heard that this had already been decided in Pluto’s favor, but tons of new articles abound about the upcoming decision of the IAU regarding what constitutes a planet – and therefore whether Pluto will lose status. Pluto has had questionable status for years when it was learned it was far smaller than believed – and the discovery several years ago of 2003 UB313 “Xena”, further out and slightly larger – is pressing the IAU to decide what really should be called a planet. Most likely Pluto will remain a “planet”, but be lumped into a different class of planet, such as “dwarf planet”. We probably won’t find out until the end of the month – a vote is scheduled on Aug. 24th.