PLAY PODCASTS
When Pluto lost its planet status

When Pluto lost its planet status

An international committee of astronomers agreed Pluto wasn't really a planet in 2006

Witness History · BBC World Service

November 12, 202010m 3s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (open.live.bbc.co.uk) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

An international committee of astronomers agreed Pluto wasn't really a planet in 2006. They reclassified it as a 'dwarf planet' instead. The decision was made after Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology identified a larger body, Eris, in the Kuiper Belt. He has been telling Bethan Head about his discovery and the public outcry that followed.

Photo: Dwarf planet Pluto Credit: DottedHippo /Getty Images