BLAME IT ON ERIS. The discovery of this distant solar-system object brought a festering quarrel about what constitutes a planet to a heated head. Temporarily flagged as 2003 UB3U after its discovery, Eris soon proved slightly bigger than Pluto. Had observers Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz found a 10th planet - or should Pluto be demoted to minor-planet status, as dynami' cists had maintained for years? It had to be one or the other, and serious bragging rights hung in the balance.
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