In 1930 an small, oddball, rocky object was discovered in the outer solar system. We named the object Pluto, and called it the ninth planet. Sadly, that was a mistake.
Thankfully, the lovely people at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) fixed this in 2006 when they decreed that Pluto was no longer a planet, and all was right with the world again.
Now some overly sentimental people are trying to ruin everything again by claiming Pluto should be back among the planets. So let's look at the evidence.
Pluto might not even be the ninth biggest object to orbit the sun – dwarf planet Eris is basically Pluto's twin.
Even our own MOON is bigger than Pluto.
As are SIX other moons in the solar system: Jupiter's Ganymede, Callisto, and Io.
And Jupiter's Europa, Saturn's Titan, and Neptune's Triton.
It's not just moons and planets Pluto is smaller than. Its surface area is a bit smaller than Russia's. If we classify Pluto as a planet, is Russia next?
Pluto's orbit is so much wonkier than that of any of the real planets, it's almost as if it's not even trying.
Go home, Pluto, you are drunk.
And clear all that debris out of your orbit while you're at it.
The IAU even created a whole new class of objects called dwarf planets in 2006, when it realised Pluto wasn't like all the other planets. Was Pluto grateful for this? No.
But the most startling piece of evidence is this: Pluto couldn't even be bothered to make it around the sun ONCE in the time it was a planet.
