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Comments
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Subscribe to commentsLaurel KornfeldJul 28th 2009 5:35PM
Pluto has never stopped being a planet, in spite of the controversial vote by four percent of the IAU, most of whom are not planetary scientists. That vote was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto.
The IAU should take responsibility for the highly flawed definition and make the much needed changes, specifically amending its resolution to establish dwarf planets as a subclass of planets. However, the IAU should not be viewed as the sole authority on the definition of planet. Many planetary scientists do not belong to the IAU. Should they not have a say in this matter? Something does not become fact simply because a tiny group that calls itself an authority says so. It is significant that hundreds of planetary scientists led by New Horizons Principal Investgator Alan Stern immediately signed a formal petition opposing the IAU definition.
There are other venues through which a planet definition can be determined, such as last year's Great Planet Debate at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.