Scientists have recently decided that Pluto is not a planet. They say that due to its size and strange orbit, it is actually more likely a resident of the Kuiper Belt. In order to determine what a planet is, the IAU (the International Astronomical Union) came up with guidelines. The first is that in order to be a planet, the candidate had to be a sphere. Unfortunately, this also included moons and some asteroids. The second condition is that the planet has to orbit around the sun. These two criteria led to solar system with far too many planets, including Pluto, UB313, Ceres (an asteroid located in between Mars and Jupiter), Pluto’s own moon Charon, and numerous celestial bodies in the Kuiper Belt. So they IAU added a third. In order to qualify as a planet, these bodies would have to dominate their own orbit. This limited the number of planets to eight. Now textbooks, films, books, papers, and even gift shop items must be changed to eliminate Pluto’s claim to planet-hood. What is your opinion, should Pluto be a planet or not? Tell us what you think!
