(WHDH) — Astronomers are arguing that Pluto should count as a planet in the Solar System based on new research.
In a paper published in the journal Icarus, Philip Metzger, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida, argues that the reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded Pluto to a dwarf planet.
The IAU defines a planet as having the largest gravitational force in its orbit, which disqualifies Pluto because it is under the influence of Neptune’s gravity.
Metzger criticizes Lau’s method of classifying what is and isn’t a planet.
He reviewed scientific literature from the past 200 years and found only one publication, from 1802, that employed the clearing-orbit requirement to classify planets and he says that publication was based on “since-disproven reasoning.”
Metzger says that the definition of a planet should be based on its intrinsic properties rather than ones that can change, such as the dynamics of a planet’s orbit.
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