(PCM) A NASA scientist by the name of Alan Stern is currently leading a team that is hard at work trying to prove that Pluto should have never been demoted from its’ planet status. Pluto was labeled a “dwarf planet” back in 2006, losing it’s spot as one of the nine planets that make up our solar system.
Stern’s exact words were “it’s bullsh*t” that Pluto was ever demoted in the first place and his team has come up with a very simplistic new definition for identifying planets throughout the solar system. They are proposing that all “round objects in space that are smaller than stars” be considered planets. With this definition, Earth’s moon would actually be considered a planet.
Stern is the leader of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto, so he definitely feels that he has many solid arguments as to why Pluto should once again become a planet. He feels that planetary status should not be determined by astronomers, but rather by actual scientists who are much keener about the subject matter at hand. He feels that when looking at an object such as Pluto, the only logical name for it is a planet.
The final decision about Pluto’s planetary status will be determined by the International Astronomical Union, so until then we will just have to wait and see and hope for the best for little ol’ Pluto.
