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Asked by smithmoorebell to Sam, Ezzy on 13 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by biancalouiseward.
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Sam Vinko answered on 13 Mar 2012:
Well, the problem was that we kept finding stuff far out with a similar mass to Pluto (which is much smaller that our Moon) so we’d either add a bunch of stuff to the solar system or take Pluto out. There is always a point from which you have to cut, and Pluto didn’t make it.
I think its a reasonable, even if completely arbitrary, choice. Its simpler to only have 8 planets.
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Elizabeth Pearson answered on 19 Mar 2012:
It’s not a planet. If it was a hundred other things would be planets. It’s sad though. It always was to me. It was less than a Plutonian year between it’s discovery and getting down graded as a planet… It never even got to it’s first birthday.
Comments
smithmoorebell commented on :
Well why didn’t you just add them in ?? Surely then you would be sure that pluto wqas a planet then everyone would be happy?
Sam commented on :
Its a somewhat artificial choice. We now have 4 Earth-like planets, 4 gas giants, and 5 and counting dwarf planets in our solar system. Its really just a matter of naming them, they’re all still there!