A new theory challenges the concept of planets that most of us have grown with. In this new theory, the moon can actually qualify as a planet.
According to Reuters, a group of scientists from different prestigious institutions in the U.S. came up with a proposal to revise and create a new definition for different celestial bodies including planets. In this paper, which was presented at the recently concluded international planetary science conference in Texas, the six scientists discussed how their definition added specifications on the requirements of a planet based on its shape, geological properties, and even its surface structures.
Alan Stern, a renowned planetary scientist, shared in an interview with Sputnik News that the current definition of a planet is heavily flawed. With their team's proposal, they made it more flexible in such as way that around 100 bodies in the solar system can be reconsidered as a planet including the former planet Pluto and Earth's very own moon.
Way back in 2006, there has been an issue with the concept of what is a planet as standardized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) when Pluto got demoted to a "dwarf planet". IAU used to define a planet as a body that orbits a star, has a clear orbit without planetesimals, has its own gravity, and massive but won't proceed into nuclear fusion. But, in the proposed definition by Stern and his colleagues, a planet won't necessarily be restrained in an orbit and won't need to steer clear from other planetesimals.
If this definition by Stern and his team gets a go signal, it will not only make the Earth's moon as a planet but also other satellites in other planets such as Jupiter's Ganymede and Saturn's Titan will also be reclassified as a planet.
