Talk:Pluto/@comment-25459604-20160304015150/@comment-32503141-20170911003621

Okay, here's the problem with Pluto being a planet: there are hundreds of "Plutos" in our solar system. There are hundreds of celestial bodies of comprable size and specifications to Pluto in our solar system, Ceres and Eris, to name just a couple.

So, to prevent the "overpopulation," so to speak, of our solar system, astronomists declared a set of criteria to define a planet. Among those criteria are a size requirement (which Pluto does not meet), and it has to clear its orbital path.

Pluto (and Eris) is a member of the Kaiper Belt, a ring of small celestial bodies, similar to the asteroid belt, situated well past Neptune that orbit our sun. Therefore, Pluto (and Eris) does not clear its path of orbit.

Ceres is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt, and therefore does not clear its orbital path, and therefore is not a planet either.

These celestial bodies do not go unrecognized, however. They have their own classification: dwarf planets.

Sorry for going on a tangent, I just think that people don't see the real reasons behind Pluto's "demotion" to a dwarf planet.