Is Pluto a Planet? New Paper Adds to Decade-Long Debate


Scientists have spent 12 years arguing over how to classify Pluto, and a recently published paper offers a new — but surprisingly old — reason for restoring the object's planetary status.

The new research focuses not on any qualities of celestial bodies themselves but on the past 200 years of scientific literature. Four scientists trawled through astronomy papers published since 1802 looking for instances of the word planet used as defined by the controversial 2006 verdict from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.

https://www.space.com/41769-pluto-pl...-rages-on.html