• Question: If you don’t mind me asking why do we have dwarf planets?

    Asked by nest520sync to Viviene DC, Vicky F, Tom, Sheridan, Martin M, christinaschoettler on 28 Apr 2025.
    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 28 Apr 2025:

      Planets can be a wide range of size… we use relatively simple language to describe the range like dwarf planets, super-Earths, gas giants, Super-Jupiters etc.

    • Photo: Vicky Fawcett

      Vicky Fawcett answered on 1 May 2025:

      Pluto was originally classified as a planet. However, we started to discover these smaller planet-like objects that looked a bit like Pluto. So the astronomy community had a decision, either classify these new objects as more planets, or make a stricter definition of what a planet is.

      In 2006 the International Astronomical Union came up with the new definition of a planet, which Pluto did not meet. Pluto (and all the new objects) were reclassified as “dwarf planets” since they were not big enough to be a planet.

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