Let me preface this by saying that I’m not an astronomer, and I don’t pretend to be one. I won’t even pretend to have a stake in this argument, but it is of historic significance, so why not.

Pluto (to left, pictured with its moon Charon) has just been demoted from full-fledged planet to a “dwarf planet” - something that’s like a planet, but too small. This comes from the International Astronomical Union’s new definition of the word “planet”, marking the first time there’s been a concrete definition of the word.

Earlier this month, the IAU tossed out another definition of ‘planet’ (a round body at least 500 miles in diameter, and a certain mass) after a sharp backlash from astronomers who didn’t like the possibility of dozens more “planets”, some larger than even Pluto, floating around in the Kupier Belt. And as sentimental as people are having grown up with 9 planets (The Magic School Bus even visited Pluto), a dozen or more planets simply aren’t feasible. There’s no way even the Magic School bus could visit 3+ more planets in half an hour.

Like I said, I’m no astronomer, but I’m behind this new definition: Pluto needs to go. Even the discoverer of ‘Xena’, the so-called 10th planet, says that neither should be considered such. And even with this new definition, bodies that satisfy criteria (a) and (b) but not (c) will still be considered ‘Dwarf Planets’ (Pluto fails (c) because its orbit crosses Neptune’s), so all is not lost for Pluto. It was simply lucky to have been the first of these objects to be discovered.