Pluto Was Reclassified 20 Years Ago—Why Scientists and the Public Still Love It

Twenty years after the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, the distant world remains one of the most recognizable objects beyond Neptune.

The IAU voted in August 2006 to define planets in a way that excluded Pluto because it had not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. The decision remains controversial among some planetary scientists.

Interest in Pluto grew further after NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past it in 2015, revealing a geologically complex world with glaciers, mountains and active surface processes.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine.

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