I have nothing against Pluto. I'm very fascinated with the recent pictures from New Horizon. But with more and more objects being found that could have been found, if we had left things as they were, with no real definition of a "planet", there would be over 200 planets in our solar system. So a formal definition had to be created, and unfortunately, it meant Pluto had to be demoted.

Pluto has completed many orbits. But not one since it was discovered. That has nothing to do with the definition of a planet, though. And it is small, but again, that has nothing to do with the definition. What does is three things:

1) An object that orbits the Sun, and not any other body (Moons could be considered planets without this one)

2) Has enough mass to assume a round-ish shape (many asteroids and comets are ruled out because of this)

3) Has cleared it's orbit of other object (this is where Pluto fails, along with many, many other objects int eh asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt).

There has been talk lately of a possible "Planet 9" way out at the edges of the solar system. It's only hypothetical at this time, so we don't really know if it is truly a "planet" by the definition or not. If it does exist, it most likely will be since it would have a lot of mass (it is thought to exist based on the orbit of many larger Kuiper Belt objects, which are thought to be affected by "Planet 9"). And being so large, and influencing those Kuiper Belt objects as it does, it would very likely have cleared out it's orbit.

No.

It does not bother me.

Pluto is now a dwarf planet - an elite group that has only 5 members.

Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake,"

Pluto does not really affect me. I'd need a reasonably big telescope to even see it. And then it would just be a tiny dot. And for the next 100 years it is getting even dimmer as it moves further from the sun.

I'm very impressed that the New Horizons probe was successfully steered to it last year. And now every astronomy book printed prior to July 2015 is out of date.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Yes, Pluto have completed thousands of orbit before, but it haven't even completed 1 orbit ever since it was discovered in February 18, 1930. In comparison Neptune had completed it's first orbit on 11 July 2011 since it was discovered in 23 September 1846.

Anyway what's the difference? Pluto being a planet or a dwarf planet doesn't change the fact that it exist and explored.

My fascination was renewed in July last year when New Horizons had its flyby.

It showed mountains of water ice floating on a liquid Nitrogen ocean.

Cool in more than one sense.

Its moon Charon is almost as big and of similar constitution, the Barycentre being somewhere between the two.

There are at least another three that we know off, Nyx for one, that makes it into a planetary system!

Small is beautiful and there are a lot more Plutinos out there, yes you heard it here, Putinos!

NH has already got another one in its sites, and what about that newfound possible?

5 to 10 times the mass of Earth and 20 AU from the Sun we only know of its presence because of its effect on other objects.

Think of the great names that will be given to these objects on confirmation, Cool!

What has "hating Pluto" got to do with anything? Look, Pluto is not a planet according to the IAU definition. If you can't handle that, that's your own problem.

I tend to NOT freak out, in general.

Especially when it comes to balls of ice.

Pluto's mass is 1/6 that of our Moon (never mind as a ratio to a real planet).

Pluto was not formed through the same process as the "planets"; it formed after, from the leftovers pushed out by the first light from the Sun (the 8 planets formed before the Sun's core fusion turned on).

Pluto's only "crime" is to have been found during an international search for a planet. According to calculations, astronomers were expecting a planet of a certain size, in a certain location. After years of searching, most astronomers had abandoned.

Pluto was not in the proper location, nor of the proper size, but since the astronomer was part of the search team for the "new planet", the international community decided to call it a "planet" anyways.

The debate (about whether Pluto deserved the title of planet, or not) started within a year of its discovery.

-----

Pluto is the 11th Solar system object to lose its title of "planet" after being called a planet for a long time.

Around 1685, 6 planets lost their status of "planet", a new category called "satellites" was created.

Sun (Helios) "aster planetes"

Moon (Selene) "aster planetes"

Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto (Galilean "planetas")

(by the time Titan, Iapetus and Rhea had been discovered, astronomers had stopped using the name "planet" for these things in orbit around non-star planets)

Around 1865, 4 planets lost their status, a new category was created: "minor planets"

Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta

(by the time Astreae, Hebe, Iris, Flora... were discovered, astronomers were hesitant to use the word "planet" for these objects).

In 2006, one planet lost its status, a new category "dwarf planets" is created.

Pluto

(when an object proposed as the 10th planet was discovered, it was called Planet X -- where X = Roman numeral 10 -- by the discoverers, and given the planet-name Xena; however, it was never formally accepted as a planet and was eventually placed in the new Dwarf Planet category, and given the name Eris)

Eh, I don't hate Pluto, but I don't have a problem with it being re-classified, either.. Pluto hasn't changed - just what we call it.

So anyone who doesn't have silly sentimental feelings for a tiny ball of ice that you've never or never will see is a "hater"? Science isn't about emotions because we all have different ones, and they're not objective.

Yes, I was bitten by a small dog when I was about 4, and I have always been a bit afraid of them since then...

Oh, you meant the planet, not the cartoon dog...

The planet does not bother me at all.

Never mind!

There is a fair chance that it is truly alien - a captured body and NOT created in this star system.