Astronomers Argue Pluto is a Planet Disgruntled scientists
renewed their vows this week to call Pluto a planet despite an
international governing body's latest ruling to reclassify the
tiny world. On Wednesday, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) declared that Pluto will henceforth be known as a
"plutoid," a new class of objects that has two members (the
other being Eris, a small body beyond Pluto). The IAU,
considered in charge of naming celestial objects, has been
around since 1919. It demoted Pluto to "dwarf planet" status in
2006. The latest decision was announced by email to the press,
and it took researchers by surprise. Even IAU members and
astronomers who discovered Eris and other objects that might
eventually be called plutoids were not consulted or informed.
That's left many scientists peeved that the IAU developed the
new term and its definition behind closed doors. They accuse the
IAU of being secretive, out of touch and of failing to consider
basic physical characteristics that researchers