Planet Labels: "Not as easy as you think" | European Southern Observatory

Planet Labels: "Not as easy as you think" | European Southern Observatory

Labeling planetary objects is not straightforward. Beyond the well-known case of Pluto. It was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, exoplanets––planets orbiting other stars––complicate this even more. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a working definition of what an exoplanet is, depending on the properties of both the planet itself and the object it orbits. Like any definition, it may need to be adjusted as we keep discovering strange planetary systems, like the ones in this video.

0:00 - Pluto

2:54 - Brown dwarfs

4:30 - The TOI-201 system

5:53 - The CD-35 2722 system

Credits: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: L. Calçada, B. Ferreira
Hosted by: S. Randall
Written by: S. Randall, M. Lopes, E. Elkington
Editing: M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada
Videography: A. Tsaousis
Animations & footage:
ESO, M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada, NMSU/Darren Phillip, NOVA PBS Official,
Greg Scheiderer, ESA/Hubble, Andreas Cellarius, I. Saviane, IAU,
Martin Heck, IAU/Robert Hurt (SSC), L. H. Nielsen,
NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI, Photos[dot]com/Getty Images, Solar System Scope,
JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/Steve Albers, I. Crossfield/N. Risinger
Filming Locations: ESO Supernova
Produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory
Duration: 7 minutes
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #SolarSystem #Planets #Pluto #DwarfPlanets #IAU #BrownDwarfs #Exoplanets #EuropeanSouthernObservatory #Universe #Cosmos #STEM #Education #HD #Video