[Steve]

About 2,500 experts were in Prague for the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) general assembly.
The scientists rejected a proposal that would have retained Pluto as a planet and brought three other objects into the cosmic club. Pluto has been considered a planet since its discovery in 1930 by the American Clyde Tombaugh.

The ninth planet will now effectively be airbrushed out of school and university textbooks.

"The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune," said the IAU resolution, which was passed following a week of stormy debate.

Professor Iwan Williams chaired the IAU working group that has been working over recent months to define the term "planet".

"I have a slight tear in my eye today, yes; but at the end of the day we have to describe the Solar System as it really is, not as we would like it to be," the Queen Mary University of London, UK, scientist told the BBC.

The initial proposal put before the IAU to raise the number of planets in the Solar System to 12 - adding the asteroid Ceres, Pluto's "moon" Charon and the distant object known as 2003 UB313 - met with opposition.

Robin Catchpole, of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK, told the BBC News website: "My own personal opinion was to leave things as they were; I met Clyde Tombaugh and thought how nice it was to shake hands with someone who had discovered a planet. "But since the IAU brought out the proposal for new planets I had been against it - it was going to be very confusing. The best of the alternatives was to leave the major planets as they are and then demote Pluto.



So there you go...

[Dave]

As long as Uranus is intact

[Angela]

at Dave!!

I've just this minute blogged about this. BT Yahoo News came up with the classiest headline........"Goofy Decision? Pluto Is Not A Planet"

[Warspite]

Only took 76 years to sort it out

[Dabhand16]

It was probably a speck of dirt on the lens of the telescope.