It's official folks, Pluto, that small lump of rock at the edge of our solar system, is no longer a planet. (See: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.ap/index.html)
The International Astronomical Union yesterday decided that Pluto no longer qualifies as a planet. It will now be called a "dwarf planet" along with objects Ceres (in the asteroid belt) and 2003UB313 (nicknamed "Xena") which is further out than Pluto and slightly larger.
I actually agree with this decision which reduces the number of planets in our solar system to eight. It really defines what a planet is, so that if any other large rocks in our solar system are discovered in the future (which they probably will be) there won't be arguments over whether they are planets or not. So now if we want to discover more planets we'll need to look in other solar systems - and I'm sure there are plenty out there - with life too!
But I just feel sorry for Mickey Mouse...
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