Pluto's Not a Planet?
A Dwarf Planet in the Icy Bits
In 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft journeyed to the edge of our solar system and sent back stunning photos of Pluto. At the time, Pluto was still considered the ninth planet from the sun, but those photos would soon change everything.
Pluto Demoted
The images from New Horizons revealed that Pluto was not as large or round as astronomers had thought. It also had several dwarf planets around it, and thus, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. Pluto is now the largest known dwarf planet in our solar system.
Dwarf Planets Around the Sun
Dwarf planets are celestial bodies that are too big to be called asteroids but too small and irregularly shaped to be called planets. Since Pluto was reclassified, several other dwarf planets have been identified in our solar system, including Eris, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake.
Comments