Twenty years ago, Nasa and other science programs made the decision to no longer classify Pluto as a planet.

“I don’t know why they decided to make Pluto not a planet,” senior Delphina Traina said. “I don’t really get why they changed it.”

In 2006, Nasa reclassified Pluto as a “Dwarf Planet”. Pluto was originally the ninth planet in the solar system, according to Nasa.

“I grew up with Pluto being a planet,” biology teacher Dina Srouji said. “Pluto should stay a planet.”

Srouji’s point is often argued in the world of science and the general public: why change something? However, new scientific discoveries challenged Pluto’s original classification and forced astronomers to reconsider if Pluto fits the definition of a planet. 

“I have always known Pluto to not be a planet,” sophomore Maria Lutz said. “But I still think Pluto should be a planet.”

Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet in 2006 because it has not cleared other objects from its orbital path. Pluto is around 3.7 billion miles from the Sun and takes 248 years to complete one orbit, according to Nasa. 

“I honestly feel bad for Pluto,” Traina said. “Imagine always being a planet and then a scientist decides you’re now a dwarf planet.”