Reports of Pluto’s Ouster From Planetary Status Are Incorrect

Contrary to previous reports, the International Astronomical Union is not going to downgrade Pluto from planetary status, the organization said in a statement Tuesday. Recent reports had suggested that it might do so because Pluto is so much smaller than other planets, but those reports were incorrect, according to the organization.

Pluto may be given a number to classify it as one of the many trans-Neptunian objects that researchers have discovered, but such numbering is only for convenience and will not change its status.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II