Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tells Stephen Colbert That Earth Could Be A Dwarf Planet Too

As humans caught their first glimpse of Pluto’s surface on Tuesday -- thanks to New Horizons' historic flyby -- comedian Stephen Colbert sat down with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson to chat about the “9th rock from the sun.”

Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006, and Tyson has often been credited with playing a central role in its demotion. During the interview, Colbert tried his hardest to get Tyson to change his position in light of the new images.

“It looks like a planet, it’s got atmosphere, it even has a heart -- unlike you,” the comedian said.

Tyson refused to budge.

“[Calling Pluto a planet] would insult all the other planets,” Tyson quipped.

However, the director of the Hayden Planetarium did concede that these terms are all relative.

“Jupiter is more bigger compared to Earth than Earth is compared to Pluto,” Tyson told Colbert. “Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth and Earth is five times wider than Pluto, so if we were Jovians, Earth would be a dwarf planet too.”

Watch the Pluto chat go down in the video above.

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