New Scientist Podcasts
Dead Planets Society: #5 The Return of Pluto
Sep 11, 2023
Join Leah and Chelsea as they belatedly mourn the loss of Pluto as a planet. Guests Kathryn Volk and Konstantin Batygin discuss various approaches to boosting Pluto's status, including increasing its mass and dragging it into the inner solar system. They also explore reimagining Pluto's planetary status by dropping a black hole inside it or physically moving it. The podcast also touches on the stability of Pluto and the potential consequences of a close gravitational encounter with Neptune.
25:22
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Quick takeaways
- Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet because it failed to clear its orbit of other large objects.
- Increasing Pluto's mass to a tenth of Earth's mass may help it regain its planet status.
Deep dives
Can Pluto be made a planet again?
The podcast explores the debate surrounding Pluto's status as a planet, with the hosts and experts discussing the requirements set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for a celestial body to be considered a planet. The experts explain that Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet due to its failure to clear its orbit of other large objects. The hosts express their desire to make Pluto a planet again and discuss potential methods, such as increasing its mass or moving it to the inner solar system. However, they acknowledge the challenges and instabilities associated with these approaches.
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