After nearly a decade in the wilderness of celestial classification, Pluto is on the rise again. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to adopt a new definition of what makes a body a planet, and to specifically demote Pluto to the status of dwarf planet. Now, with new data and images streaming in from New Horizons showing that Pluto is not only a little larger than previously thought, but also home to some remarkable geological features (including what may be some of the solar system's youngest mountain peaks, reaching to 11,000 ft/3,353 m high), many are saying it's time to restore the ninth planet to its previous station.
Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the most prominent advocates for Pluto are scientists working on the New Horizons mission, which reached the closest point of its long-awaited Pluto fly-by on July 14.
"We are free to call it a planet right now," Philip Metzger, a planetary scientist on the New Horizons mission, told DW.com. "Science is not decided by votes ... the planetary science community has never stopped calling bodies like Pluto 'planets'."
Really, isn't it time to re-classify Pluto as a dog?
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Monday July 20 2015, @10:34AM
Especially the ones written 75 years before 2006,
No, especially the ones written shortly before 2006 that are otherwise perfectly valid and will be essential background to interpreting the data that New Horizons sends back over the next year.
A planet is a celestial object that moves against the backdrop of the fixed star and is observable by the naked eye.
Except that definition was invalidated by actual scientific discoveries - from heliocentricity through to exoplanets - not by arbitrary rules dreamed up by a committee.