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.
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Though his Late Show still won’t start until September, Stephen Colbert has recently started doing whatever he can to make sure we don’t forget about him before then. So excited that he made a new video in an effort to discuss the discoveries and call out the detractors of Pluto, like Neil deGrasse Tyson.
In the video, Colbert describes Pluto as “a malted milk ball left in the rain 4.7 billion miles from the sun” based on photos that the NASA New Horizons spacecraft took during its flyby this week. He noted what looks like a heart-shaped patch of white.
But, famed astrophysicists and director of the Hayden Planetarium, wasn’t as impressed as some.
Tyson was sitting just out of frame. During the interview, Colbert tried his hardest to get Tyson to change his position in light of the new images.
But Pluto wasn’t the only planet that might deserve to be demoted, Tyson said: All the rocky planets are “dwarf planets” compared with the gas giants. “It’s not every day where you get to be the first eyes to set upon a completely undiscovered land”, Tyson told Colbert. The segment may run a bit longer than a normal interview, but Colbert and Tyson don’t wear out their welcome.
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