Pluto’s planetary predicament
Poor old Pluto. It never asked for all this drama, yet it has found itself at the centre of a storm of controversy ever since it was demoted from a ‘planet’ to a ‘dwarf planet’ back in 2006.
You may remember Pluto as the ninth planet in our solar system. It was the one furthest away from the Sun, with the slightly wonky-looking elliptical orbit and a peculiar relationship with one of its moons. Despite being the odd one out, though, it was still regarded as a legitimate member of the ‘planets’ family.
And then, after a controversial ruling from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006, Pluto got a new label: dwarf planet. It was a decision that led to the rewriting of textbooks and a lot of very heated debate.
