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Tuesday, August 25, 2026 · UTC
Launches & Rockets

IAU defines three criteria for a planet in 2006

The International Astronomical Union set rules requiring a body to orbit the Sun, be spherical, and clear its neighborhood.

Senior Space Correspondent
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Stands on 6 placed sources from 3 publishers.
David Gerdes stated that large asteroids like Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta were originally considered planets when discovered in the early 1800s.[1]