Written by: Kabya Oli - 29014, Grade V
Posted on: 18 January, 2022
Many years ago Pluto was a planet and I often wondered why Pluto was no longer a planet. However, as I know the answer I want to share, in August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reduced Pluto to a “Dwarf Planet.” This means that from now on only the rocky terrain of the Inner Solar System and the gas giants of the external system will be designated as planets. The "Inner Solar System" is a space smaller than the Jupiter orbit of the sun. It contains the asteroid belt and the planets Earth, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The "gas giants" are Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus. So now we have eight planets instead of the nine we used to have.
