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Review 2006: I'm a planet, get me outta here!

19 December 2006

It was easily the most bizarre reality show of the year: 12 contestants, one eviction and a few hundred astronomers on the judging panel

Unruly star may be swallowing embryonic planets

15 November 2006

The sudden appearance of a bright cloud near a low-mass star may be evidence of a grisly feast

Bizarre stellar outburst continues to baffle

30 October 2006

New observations suggest a strange brightening of the star V838 Monocerotis in 2002 could not be due to an explosion on a white dwarf, as previously thought

Brown dwarfs may stretch out exoplanets' orbits

20 September 2006

Many extrasolar planets travel in elongated orbits – gravitational tugs from unseen brown dwarfs may be partly to blame

Former 'tenth planet' named for goddess of discord

14 September 2006

The object that sparked the row over Pluto's status has now been christened 'Eris' after the Greek goddess of discord, who helped start the Trojan War

60 Seconds

13 September 2006

Pluto added to official "minor planet" list

7 September 2006

The former planet will henceforth be known as minor planet 134340 Pluto, underscoring its recent demotion from planethood

Star pair masquerades as a planetary system

7 September 2006

A deceptive looking duo of low-mass stars, revealed by Hubble, will add to the heated debate over what constitutes a planet

Pluto is down but not out

2 September 2006

The decision to relegate Pluto from planet to "dwarf planet" was a wrench for astronomers, but there's no need for a tearful farewell, says Stephen Battersby

Rows over planetary status are as old as the asteroids

2 September 2006

Even as you mourn Pluto's demotion from planet, spare a thought for poor old Ceres, which has twice battled to attain planetary status