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Space
Space
Science
Robert Lea

Pluto losing its planet status may be the best thing that ever happened to solar system diversity

An illustration of the planet... whoops... dwarf planet Pluto.

Unpopular opinion time, but someone has to say it: I think Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet was a great thing for our understanding of the solar system and for the former planet itself. Let me try to convince you, too.

First, a little background. The Pluto planet controversy began exactly 20 years ago on Aug. 24, 2006, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified the solar system's (former) ninth planet as a dwarf planet.

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