Is Pluto a planet?

Pluto is officially no longer classed as a planet, and here's why. The International Astronomical Union defined three rules in 2005 that a celestial body (an object observable within space) must follow to be classed as a planet:

1. The planet must orbit the sun.
2. The planet must be large enough that its gravity can smooth it into a nice spherical shape.
3. It must have cleared up the surrounding objects around it.
Pluto fails number three as it simply isn't massive enough to pull the surrounding objects into it's orbit. This is really hard for Pluto as it lives in the Kuiper Belt, a belt of other large rocky objects.
Fortunately for Pluto it matches the first two rules, so it can be classed as a dwarf planet instead!

CG
Answered by Connor G. Physics tutor

3708 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

What would happen to n and Emax when  a) the intensity is reduced to 1/2 I but the wavelength λ is unchanged? b) the wavelength λ is reduced but the intensity is unchanged?


What is the angular velocity of a person standing on the surface of the earth. Give your answer in radians per second


Do heavy things fall faster than small things?


What is the Rutherford scattering experiment and what did it tell us about the nature of the atom?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning