ydrostatic equilibrium.

It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.[61][62]

Pluto fails to meet the third condition.[63] Its mass is substantially less than
the combined mass of the other objects in its orbit: 0.07 times, in contrast to
Earth, which is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its orbit (excluding the
moon).[64][62] The IAU further decided that bodies that, like Pluto, meet criteria
1 and 2, but do not meet criterion 3 would be called dwarf planets. In September
2006, the IAU included Pluto, and Eris and its moon Dysnomia, in their Minor Planet
Catalogue, giving them the official minor-planet designations "(134340) Pluto",
"(136199) Eris", and "(136199) Eris I Dysnomia".[65] Had Pluto been included upon
its discovery in 1930, it would have likely been designated 1164, following 1163
Saga, which was discovered a month earlier.[66]

There has been some resistance within the astronomical community toward the
reclassification, and in particular planetary scientists often continue to reject
it, considering Pluto, Charon, and Eris to be planets for the same reason they do
so for Ceres. In effect, this amounts to accepting only the second clause of the
IAU definition.[67][68][69] Alan Stern, principal investigator with NASA's New
Horizons mission to Pluto, derided the IAU resolution.[70][71] He also stated that
because less than five percent of astronomers voted for it, the decision was not
representative of the entire astronomical community.[71] Marc W. Buie, then at the
Lowell Observatory, petitioned against the definition.[72] Others have supported
the IAU, for example Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered Eris.[73]

Public reception to the IAU decision was mixed. A resolution introduced in the
California State Assembly facetiously called the IAU decision a "scientific
heresy".[74] The New Mexico House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor
of Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto and a longtime resident of that state,
that declared that Pluto will always be considered a planet while in New Mexican
skies and that March 13, 2007, was Pluto Planet Day.[75][76] The Illinois Senate
passed a similar resolution in 2009 on the basis that Tombaugh was born in
Illinois. The resolution asserted that Pluto was "unfairly downgraded to a 'dwarf'
planet" by the IAU."[77] Some members of the public have also rejected the change,
citing the disagreement within the scientific community on the issue, or for
sentimental reasons, maintaining that they have always known Pluto as a planet and
will continue to do so regardless of the IAU decision.[78] In 2006, in its 17th
annual words-of-the-year vote, the American Dialect Society voted plutoed as the
word of the year. To "pluto" is to "demote or devalue someone or something".[79] In
April 2024, Arizona (where Pluto was first discovered in 1930) passed a law naming
Pluto as the official state planet.[80]

Researchers on both sides of the debate gathered in August 2008, at the Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for a conference that included back-
to-back talks on the IAU definition of a planet.[81] Entitled "The Great Planet
Debate",[82] the conference published a post-conference press release indicating
that scientists could not come to a consensus about the definition of planet.[83]
In June 2008, the IAU had announced in a press release that the term "plutoid"
would henceforth be used to refer to Pluto and other planetary-mass objects that
have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of Neptune, though the term has
not seen significant use.[84][85][86]
Orbit
Animation of Pluto's orbit from 1850 to 2097
Sun · Saturn · Uranus · Neptune · Pluto

Pluto's orbital period is about 248 years. Its orbital characteristics are
substantially different from those of the planets, which follow nearly circular
orbits around the Sun close to a flat reference plane called the ecliptic. In
contrast, Pluto's orbit is moderately inclined relative to the ecliptic (over 17°)
and moderately eccentric (elliptical). This eccentricity means a small region of
Pluto's orbit lies closer to the Sun than Neptune's. The Pluto–Charon barycenter
came to perihelion on September 5, 1989,[4][l] and was last closer to the Sun than
Neptune between February 7, 1979, and February 11, 1999.[87]

Although the 3:2 resonance with Neptune (see below) is maintained, Pluto's
inclination and eccentricity behave in a chaotic manner. Computer simulations can
be used to predict its position for several million years (both forward and
backward in time), but after intervals much longer than the Lyapunov time of 10–20
million years, calculations become unreliable: Pluto is sensitive to immeasurably
small details of the Solar System, hard-to-predict factors that will gradually
change Pluto's position in its orbit.[88][89]

The semi-major axis of Pluto's orbit varies between about 39.3 and 39.6 AU with a
period of about 19,951 years, corresponding to an orbital period varying between
246 and 249 years. The semi-major axis and period are presently getting longer.[90]
Relationship with Neptune
Orbit of Pluto – ecliptic view. This "side view" of Pluto's orbit (in red) shows
its large inclination to the ecliptic. Neptune is seen orbiting close to the
ecliptic.

Despite Pluto's orbit appearing to cross that of Neptune when viewed from north or
south of the Solar System, the two objects' orbits do not intersect. When Pluto is
closest to the Sun, and close to Neptune's orbit as viewed from such a position, it
is also the farthest north of Neptune's path. Pluto's orbit passes about 8 AU north
of that of Neptune, preventing a collision.[91][92][93][m]

This alone is not enough to protect Pluto; perturbations from the planets
(especially Neptune) could alter Pluto's orbit (such as its orbital precession)
over millions of years so that a collision could happen. However, Pluto is also
protected by its 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune: for every two orbits that
Pluto makes around the Sun, Neptune makes three, in a fr