Is Pluto no longer considered a planet?

Pluto continues to be designated a Planet by the International Astronomical Union, which is the only body of astronomers on this planet that has the final say in designating astronomical objects.

The problem is that there is very strong interest in providing Pluto with a dual classification because it shares many of the same properties with the recently discovered trans-Neptunian bodies. Historically, there are several presidents for such a dual classification. The minor body Chiron, for example, was initially claimed to be the Tenth Planet, but subsequent studies showed it to be a distant asteroid. Still, it has a distinct coma so it is also classified as a periodic comet among the nearly 10,000 minor bodies with known orbits.

Pluto is a large body and is rightly identified as a planet on this basis alone, with a radius of about 1,700 kilometers. However, in 1996 another large body was discovered beyond the orbit of Neptune, but now has the temporary designation 1996TL66. If one assumes an albedo of about 4%, the radius of this object is some 250 kilometers. There are many dozens of other smaller trans-neptunian bodies that are also known, and this has led the International Astronomical Union to investigate whether Pluto should receive a dual classification as a Planet and as a trans-Neptunian body. It would be the largest of this new population ever detected, and historically the first one discovered.

This does NOT mean that it would be stripped of its classification as a planet, only that it would be the only planet that would also be listed among the minor bodies of the solar system with a designation number near 10,000. The subsequent trans-Neptunian bodies would receive permanent designations beyond number 10,000, so that whenever an astronomer pulls-up a list of these bodies, Pluto would always appear first in the list with the lowest designation number.

It is not more complicated than this, but it is sad how the media, and some astronomers even, have played this story as an attempt at demoting Pluto to merely an asteroid. It is NOT merely another asteroid, it is as genuinely a planet as any of the other 8 large bodies, its just that it also shares MANY attributes with the trans-Neptunian body population, and for technical reasons its membership in this family should also be acknowledged in the catalog of minor planets.