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The REAL Reason Asteroids Aren't Planets

minutephysics, 4 min, 214.1K views, Jan 22, 2026

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Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with our code MinutePhysics1 will get their first month for free: https://planetwild.com/r/minutephysics/join If you want to get to know them better first, check out their mission about the power of peatland ecosystems: https://planetwild.com/r/minutephysics/m35 This video is about the interesting and often-misunderstood story of the asteroids, and how they lost their planet-hood status; more recently than you may think! REFERENCES - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518303063 - https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.39.12.1159 - https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/~mjelline/453website/eosc453/E_prints/newfer010/asphaug_asteroids_AR09.pdf Link to Patreon Supporters: http://www.minutephysics.com/supporters/ And Facebook: http://facebook.com/minutephysics Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute! Created by Henry Reich Produced by Joshua Chawner Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:23 Asteroid Planet Discovery 1:07 Asteroid Planet Reaction 1:48 Why Asteroids are Not Planets 3:09 Demotion of the Asteroids 3:47 Sponsor Message from Planet Wild!