Op-Ed: Pluto should get back its planetary status, claim astronomers

A debate being led by many senior space scientists and NASA experts on whether Pluto should be given back its' status of the the ninth planet in the solar system turns controversial.

The International Astronomical Union, the body responsible for astronomical nomenclature, had earlier demoted Pluto from being the ninth planet in our solar system to a 'plutoid'. As described by the union, plutoids are a new kind of celestial underclass which might only be small orbiting, almost spherical objects beyond the eighth planet of the sun, Neptune. While most people might not even get as to why such a move was taken, scientists at the International Astronomical Union feel that if roundness was the only quality to be taken into consideration, the Solar System would end up having more than 12 planets, of which some would not even be much like a planet. As a result, with more discoveries, there would be an ever increasing number of planets in the solar system. A report by the ANI, stated:

"It has never before been necessary for any organisation to define a word that has been in common every day use so I see no reason why it was necessary on this occasion," The Telegraph quoted Dr David Morrison, director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute in California, as saying.

He added: "Astronomers use adjectives such as giant and dwarf to describe different subclasses of objects like planets, stars and galaxies, so why could Pluto not remain as a dwarf planet just as Jupiter is a giant planet.

"Also, around 90 per cent of the planets we know now are outside our solar system, but under the International Astronomical Union's definition, they cannot be classed as planets."

The debate has reportedly reached a stale-mate like situation between experts working for NASA who claim that the revised definitions are confusing and will mean that newly discovered planets in solar systems outside our own can no longer be described as such, and traditionalists in the Astronomical Union, who argue that Pluto doesn't even deserve to be a planet. Whether or not the debate reaches a conclusion remains to be seen. Personally, I'd vouch for our poor little ninth planet to get back its old status.