At its General Assembly in Prague on 24 August 2006 the International Astronomical Union voted for the first formal definition of a planet: a body that orbits the Sun, is massive enough to be round, and has cleared its orbit of other objects. Pluto, which shares its region with many other icy bodies, failed the third test and became a dwarf planet. The decision was provoked by the discovery of Eris, a similar object slightly more massive than Pluto, in 2005. The change was controversial and is still disputed by some scientists.
Before and after
- 23 July 2006Creation of Rust
- 7 August 2006Discovery of C/2006 P1
- 10 August 2006Discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
- 15 August 2006Release of Wikiversity
- 24 August 2006Pluto is reclassified as a dwarf planet
- 27 August 2006Release of Roblox
- 30 August 2006Death of Naguib Mahfouz
- 18 September 2006SN 2006gy
- from 25 September 2006 to 8 February 2010Premiere of Heroes
More in Universe & space
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 19 February 1986Launch of Mir
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.