It had to happen one day, that little ball of ice and rock that just can’t keep it’s orbit to itself has been demoted to a (sniff) planetesimal. Ok, the official classification is ‘dwarf planet‘ but you know it’s still the same as being sent to eat at the kids table during the holidays. It’s a good thing that the New Horizons mission got underway before the new ruling came into being.
Officially, Pluto is no longer a planet. "Pluto is dead," said Mike Brown, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology who spoke with reporters via a teleconference while monitoring the vote. The decision also means a Pluto-sized object that Brown discovered will not be called a planet.
So, is anyone holding a wake for Pluto? If not then why not?