[Wednesday, August 16, 2006] The world's astronomers, under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), have concluded two years of work defining the difference between "planets" and the smaller "solar system bodies" such as comets and asteroids.

[Wednesday, August 16, 2006] Voyager 1, already the most distant human-made object in the cosmos, reaches 100 astronomical units from the sun on Tuesday, August 15 at 5:13 p.m. Eastern time (2:13 p.m. Pacific time).

[Thursday, August 17, 2006] As New Horizons cruised toward the edge of the asteroid belt and Jupiter, NASA's enduring Voyager 1, already Earth's farthest-flung robotic ambassador, became the first spacecraft to reach a distance of 100 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.

[Monday, August 21, 2006] Is Pluto actually a planet? Or is it something else? Astronomers have been debating this issue - often, hotly -- since Pluto's discovery seven decades ago.

[Thursday, August 24, 2006] At the second session of the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly, which will be held 14:00 Thursday 24 August, members of the IAU will vote on the Resolutions presented below.

[Thursday, August 24, 2006] Today, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially defined the word "planet" and, in doing so, redefined our solar system by downgrading Pluto's status from "planet" to "dwarf planet".

[Thursday, August 24, 2006] If you woke up Thursday morning and sensed something was different about the world around you, you're absolutely right. Pluto is no longer a planet.

[Thursday, August 24, 2006] The IAU today downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a "dwarf planet," a designation that will also be applied to the spherical body discovered last year by California Institute of Technology planetary scientist Mike Brown and his colleagues.

[Thursday, August 31, 2006] Questions have arisen over recent IAU resolutions. These concerns are not surprising, given the long and difficult history of efforts to reach agreement on just what a planet is, and the unwillingness of nature to be categorized into neat compartments.

[Thursday, August 31, 2006] We, as planetary scientists and astronomers, do not agree with the IAU's definition of a planet, nor will we use it. A better definition is needed and was circulated to a small fraction of the world's astronomical research community.