🪐 Pluto's planet status debate still heating up
Pluto was reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet on August 24, 2006, by the International Astronomical Union. This change occurred because the discovery of Eris in 2005 forced a formal definition of a planet. The IAU requires a planet to have cleared its orbital neighborhood, which Pluto did not. Despite this, many scientists still debate the rigid definition, especially with new discoveries. NASA's New Horizons mission revealed Pluto is a complex, geologically active world. 🪐