As of 2016, the Solar System has only eight planets, according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Pluto was considered a planet since its discovery in 1930, but in 2006 it lost this classification after a decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) .
The decision made Pluto a “dwarf planet” for sharing its orbit, which has so far sparked controversy even among a former NASA administrator .
Since 2006, the Solar System has only eight planets, but there are scientists who postulate another point of view.
The opposition
A team of scientists assures that the current way of classifying the planets has a lot of folklore and little science.
The article “Moons are planets: scientific utility versus cultural teleology in the taxonomy of planetary science”, to be published in March 2022, wants to return the status of planet to Pluto and incorporate hundreds of moons.
The authors seek to build on the definition used by scientists for centuries: all geologically active bodies in space.
“We think there are probably more than 150 planets in our solar system ,” planetary physicist Philip Metzger, lead author of the study , told NBC News .