Queen's guitarist Brian May sees Pluto as a planet

You may not be worried about what Keith Richards or Jimmy Page think about Pluto's status as a dwarf planet, but when Queen's guitarist Brian May talks about it, it's worth listening to .

May, who earned her PhD in Astrophysics in 2007, posted her thoughts on Pluto on Instagram Wednesday night after hearing about how the NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine still sees Pluto as a planet in its own right.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) strengthened its definition of the planet in 2006 and downgraded Pluto to a dwarf planet, sparking a ongoing debate it's just not going to rest. May is on the pro-planet side of the argument.

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Well, it's not that I have any authority … but for what it's worth, I totally agree. Pluto was discovered and named as a planet shortly before my birth. At that time, it was generally understood instinctively that a planet belonged to a family of nearly spherical objects that gravitated around the Sun (rather than doing anything else in orbit). So for me, Pluto is a classic PLANET. End of the story. We can easily choose to make Pluto the outer edge of the classic planet. In this case, we will have 9 planets and an ever-increasing number of objects in the Kuiper belt, large and small, as they are discovered. Someone like my definition? It would have saved a lot of problems 10 years ago !! Incidentally, the origins of the word planet are of no help. The word simply means "wandering star" of Greek, as I understand it, although Greek is not my strong point! ???? Listen to PLUTO – the 9th planet !! If you agree, let me know – and I'll show Alan Stern – the genius that has revealed the beautiful appearance of Pluto – through NASA's New Horizons mission. I was proud to be a very small part of this triumph. Alan's team uses a nine-finger salute (which I subscribe to), so there is no doubt on which side they are! Bri

An article shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on August 28, 2019 at 9:13 pm PDT

"Pluto was discovered and named planet sometime before I was born," May wrote on Instagram. "At that time, it was generally understood instinctively that a planet belonged to a family of nearly spherical objects that gravitated around the sun (rather than doing anything else in orbit)."

May said that he saw Pluto as a "classic planet" and suggested that we consider it the outer edge of a classic planet zone.

May has remained involved in the cosmos since graduation. He spent time with NASA's New Horizons team in 2015 after the spacecraft was flown over by an overflight of Pluto. wrote a song for the spaceship in 2018 with the approach of the space rock Ultima Thule.

"Listen to this for Pluto – the 9th planet!" May wrote. The AIU, which is in charge of managing these things, does not agree.

May's comments will not bring Pluto back into the entire planet, but they highlight the gap that separates scientists from this hot topic.