Leading astronomers declared on AUG-24-2006 that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight!
Members of the 6th General Assembly of International Astronomic Union vote on a resolution for planet definition in Prague.
Now there is a 12-planet solar system with eight classical planets and three bodies including Pluto in a new and growing category called "plutons" - Pluto-like objects - plus a former asteroid, Ceres collectively called "Dwarf Planets"
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured Pluto and its moon Charon in this image.
After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. Textbooks and classroom materials will now have to be reworked, even as some aspects of the new decision are still being worked through.
Pluto has been demoted to a class of objects that has not yet been named. They would include celestial bodies orbiting a star that are large enough to pull themselves into a round shape but not large enough to clear their orbital paths of other objects. Pluto's orbit is largely decided by the much larger Neptune, which is what disqualifies it from being a planet.
Somewhat confusingly, both Pluto and 2003 UB313 will also be part of a larger group of objects known as dwarf planets. Dozens of objects will be part of this new group, which will be distinguished from the new, unnamed category of objects because dwarf planets are scattered more widely around the solar system. Ceres, for instance, which is between Mars and Jupiter and has long been thought to be an asteroid, will be considered a dwarf planet.
Now UB313 is the largest dwarf planet...doesnt it sound cool ;-)
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