Friday, March 28th, 2008

What's a Planet, Anyway?

Pluto and its companion Charon. Dr. R. Albrecht, ESA/ESO Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility; NA

In 2006, astronomers voted to remove Pluto from the list of planets in our solar system -- but the controversy over just what should be called a planet lives on. This week, writing in a commentary in the journal Science, planetary scientist Mark Sykes argues that a planet should be defined simply as 'a round object orbiting a star.' We'll talk with him about why that should be, and whether the definition of planet really matters.

Guests

Mark Sykes
Director, Planetary Science Institute
Tucson, Arizona

Related Links

• NASA Solar System Exploration: Pluto
• New Horizons mission
• 2006 IAU Pluto vote

Segment produced by:Karin Vergoth

Image: The highest resolution image yet of Pluto, from New Horizons data.
Eliot Young (SwRI) et al., NASA

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