Astronomers Vote to Strip Pluto of Planetary Status

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930.

The new definition of what is — and isn't — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.