![New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/pluto.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
A team of NASA scientists is trying to make Pluto a planet again.
The group — led by Alan Stern, who headed NASA’s mission to Pluto — has proposed changing the definition of a planet. If approved, it would reverse a decision the International Astronomical Union (IAU) made a decade ago to demote Pluto to a “dwarf planet,” USA Today reports.
Stern’s team has submitted a proposal to the IAU, which is tasked with defining and naming planetary bodies. The scientists, in simple terms, suggest a planet should be redefined as “round objects in space that are smaller than stars,” according to the newspaper.
The IAU took away Pluto’s planet status in 2006. Stern’s team argues in their proposal that the planet definition the IAU adopted then is “flawed.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com