🪐 NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Is Fighting to Bring Pluto Back as a Planet

🪐 NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Is Fighting to Bring Pluto Back as a Planet

The agency's head said during Senate NASA budget hearings that he fully supports making Pluto a planet again, adding that several papers are currently being prepared to make the case to the scientific community.

🌌 So Why Isn't Pluto a Planet?

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. It was considered a planet for over 70 years, mostly because no formal definition of "planet" existed at the time.

It wasn't until 2006 that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) set out official criteria: a planet must orbit the Sun, be massive enough to form a roughly spherical shape, and have cleared its orbital neighborhood of other objects.

That last requirement, gravitational dominance, is exactly where Pluto falls short. It shares its orbit with other objects in the Kuiper Belt.

That's why Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, joining Eris, Ceres, and other small bodies of the Solar System.

🛰 No matter how hard NASA pushes, the final call still rests with the IAU. But with such a high-profile advocate in its corner, Pluto has at least a slightly better shot at becoming the ninth planet once again.

Should Pluto regain its planet status?

❤️ — Yes, absolutely
🔥 — No, it's not a planet!

@hiaimediaen