So things stood for 65 years. Although Pluto's orbit was more elongated than the other planets' (and even crossed the orbit of Neptune—not the kind of thing you would expect a decent planet to ...
Things have been a mess since Pluto's demotion. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted on the definition of a planet. Famously, Pluto no longer met the criteria and was demoted ...
Astronomers were comfortable with those classifications even when Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. But that new planet was a stretch — it had a really wonky orbit and was far smaller than the ...
Astronomers were comfortable with those classifications even when Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. But that new planet was a stretch — it had a really wonky orbit and was far smaller ...