Pluto is now just a number: 134340

Pluto has been given a different name, commensurate with its new redefined position as an asteroid.

On September 7, the 9th former planet of the solar system was assigned the asteroid number 134340, which was officially held by the Minor Planet Center, the official agency responsible for collecting data on asteroids and comets. solar system, launched.

This move reinforced the recent decision of the International Astronomical Association to demote the Pluto down by shoulders with smaller objects in the solar system.

The objects in the same group as Charon, Nix and Hydra are considered to belong to the same system and will not be registered as an independent number. Instead, they are called 134340 I, II and III respectively.

Other objects also belong to the asteroid group including 2003 UB313 (also known as Xena) and recently discovered objects in the Kuiper belt are 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9. Their number of asteroids is called 136199, 136108 and 136472 respectively.

The solar system follows new criteria, consisting of only 8 large traditional planets.Pluto is classified as "dwarf planet" along with Ceres, Charon and 2003 UB313.(Photo: BBC)

T. An