It was back in 2006 that the International Astronomical Union, or IAU, held a General Assembly. The purpose of this meeting would normally be ignored by the general public. Most people do not care about the inner workings of any form of science. However this assembly caught the media's attention. The attention was focused on Resolutions five and six. These two resolutions dealt with the definition of the word planet, and the classification of the planet Pluto.

While no one seemed to care about the definition of the word planet, a large number of people were in an uproar over Pluto's demotion to dwarf planet status.

The classification was much better received my by myself than it was by some of the people I know. I have not considered Pluto to be a planet since the age of ten when I read an article which offered a compelling argument against Pluto's planet-hood. I do not remember the specifics of the article, but it offered both sides of the argument. I decided for myself that Pluto was not really a planet, but a large asteroid.

It came as no surprise to me when the IAU made their decision and the public reacted the way they did. People have been taught that Pluto is a planet since the 1930s. It has fallen into the realm of common knowledge. So when someone tells you that something you have known your entire life is wrong, people react with hostility.

That is not even the only reason. A large number of people considered Pluto to be their favorite planet. This might have something to do with the idea of it being the furthest planet from the sun. It has an aura of mystery surrounding it. It is also the easiest planet to remember its position. However I think it is mainly to do with the fact that a beloved Walt Disney character shares the same name.

A cartoon dog, no matter how beloved, is a poor reason to bind science at the wrists. It is the very nature of science to change as knowledge improves.

For the purpose of this post, I will take a step back. If Pluto is not a planet, there are reasons for it. Let's explore them.

When I ask how many planets there are, most people still reply with, “nine.” Although most people cannot name all of them in proper order, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This was their common knowledge, so it is what they retain. The number of planets are small, so it is easy to remember.

What if there were more then nine planets? By lacking a true definition for the word Planet, you open the floodgate for an enormous number of planets.

What does this flood of planets look like? I will list them; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. That does not even take into account objects that have yet to take up the designation of dwarf planet such as Quaoar. The simple fact is that if you want to think of Pluto as a planet, than you have to consider these other bodies to be planets as well. That makes thirteen planets.

There is even more against Pluto's planethood than that. Pluto has an irregular orbit. No planet has a perfectly circular orbit around the sun. All orbits are elliptical, but Pluto's is especially so. At one point of its orbit it swings closer to the sun than Neptune. So it wouldn't always be the furthest planet from the sun anyway.

Then there is the issue of Pluto's size. Pluto is actually smaller than Earth's Moon. The dwarf Planet Ceres is easily larger than Pluto. Pluto is so small and lacks mass that its so-called moon doesn't actually orbit around Pluto. Since Pluto's main moon, Charon, has about 30% the mass of Pluto the center of gravity between the two is actually somewhere between Pluto and Charon. So both objects orbit around a phantom planet that exists as the combination of both of them. It is very interesting, but does not lend much credit to Pluto's planet status.

So if you see Pluto as a moon to it and Charon's combined gravity, than you not only open up the floodgate, but you break the dam.

So the order is now Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Phobos, Deimos, Ceres, Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Castillo, Saturn, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Enceladus, Uranus, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Neptune, Triton, Pluto, Charon, Nix, Hydra, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. That is just too many for comfort. I doubt you even read that entire list. That doesn't even take into account the unclassified dwarf planets or the majority of the moons orbiting around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. So the count is now thirty seven planets. Dropping Pluto from this list is starting to look like a good idea.

Just for the fun of it, lets add all the “planets” up. Do not worry. I will not list them again. There are the thirty seven listed above, fifty nine additional Jupiter moons, nineteen additional Saturn Moons, twenty two additional Uranus moons, twelve additional Neptune moons, and the thirty or so unclassified minor planets. So the number of 'planets' now rests at one hundred seventy nine. I could probably go on but no one would want me to.

The simple fact is that Pluto is small, has not cleared its orbit, and does not have a proper orbit with either the sun or its own moon.

For all of you people who still want Pluto to be a planet simply because that was they way you were taught, look back into history. No one remembers this, mostly because everyone from that time are now dead, but Ceres was a planet for over fifty years before it lost that distinction in the mid 1800s. Did people riot over it? I doubt it.

I am not saying that I do not care for Pluto. I am excited about the New Horizons space probe that will closely examine Pluto for the first time in history. I just do not believe Pluto is a planet.