IF SOME astronomers have their way, Earth will soon be called a “terrestrial planet” and Pluto a “historic planet”.
Eighteen months ago, a working group convened by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) started looking for a new way of defining a planet, after a large body called Sedna was found in the outer solar system. The matter became urgent in July when a so-called “tenth planet”, bigger than Pluto, was discovered in the Kuiper belt of bodies orbiting beyond Neptune.
“They’ll ask why egghead PhDs can’t tell when an object is a planet if regular people can”
The working group…
