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title: "Pluto Isn't a Planet" date: 2004-02-21 02:45 modified: 2004-04-27 17:40 status: published tags: Pluto, Pluto not being a planet, astronomy, the Solar System, Planet X

<p>
Officially, Pluto is a planet. In reality, it's a member of numerous Kuiper Belt objects which orbit the Sun beyond Neptune. When it was found, 74 years ago, Clyde Tombaugh was searching for a planet and so assumed what he had found was one. </p>
<p>
Another large Kuiper Belt object was found a few days ago, as has been reported by the BBC (<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/3506329.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/3506329.stm</a>) - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_DW" title="(Wikipedia)">2004 DW</a>. Its diameter is estimated as between 1500km and 2600km; Quaoar, another Kuiper Belt object found in 2002, is about 1200km across; Pluto is 2320km across. The evidence is mounting that Pluto is simply a large example of an ordinary Kuiper Belt object. If 2004 DW turns out to be as large as, or larger than Pluto, will it be called a planet? </p>