:"officially," Pluto is a planet. It is also a Trans-Neptunian object, a Plutino, and a Kuiper belt object. Ultimately the only solid criteria for planethood is "what we point to and call 'a planet'," and by that criteria Pluto is unlikely to lose its status as a planet any time soon. By the time it does, nobody will care (by definition :). :: picky detail, just to remind contributors: this is a criterion, not criteria, since it is singular. (Just like phenomenon/phenomena.) Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for lunch in the cafeterion... :as for its location in the list on this page, there isn't a subheading specifically for "planets" so I wouldn't take Pluto's position as being significant. |