The Dwarf Planets

As many know by this point, Pluto was removed from the list of solar system "planets" and added to the new list of "dwarf planets" which brought us to an 8 planet solar system and 3 major dwarf planets. Pluto was reclassified in 2006, this was something know by most people, but the reason for the reclassification.

In 2003 the "dwarf planet" Eris was first seen, but not identified until 2005. Eris is located well beyond the Kuiper Belt, at 96.7 AU away from the sun, which is about 3 times farther away than Pluto.

The kicker of discovering Eris... it's bigger than Pluto, 27% more massive. This caused Eris to be dubbed the tenth planet for a short period of time, until it spurred the defining of the label "planet" which reclassified Pluto and Eris as a dwarf planet.

As much as I hate to see Pluto go, I don't really know how well everyone would have excepted a 10th planet. If at all interested in Eris, check out some general information HERE.