2009 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: Planets to Plutoids - Our New Solar System

When the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006, controversy followed over this most beloved object in the solar system. Recent discoveries of icy Kuiper Belt objects and hot exoplanets have forced scientists to rethink previous classification schemes and their associated nomenclature.

Our panel will debate the whole Pluto demotion and classification among these recently discovered objects that share the same characteristics.

Our panelists included Gibor Basri, Jack Lissauer, Sara Seager, Steven Soter, Alan Stern, Mark V. Sykes, and was hosted and moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.