Pluto in size of Charon and Pluto has prompted some astronomers to call it a double dwarf planet. The system is also unusual among planetary systems in that each is tidally locked to the other, which means that Pluto and Charon always have the same hemisphere facing each other. From any position on either body, the other is always at the same position in the sky, or always obscured. This also means that the rotation period of each is equal to the time it takes the entire system to rotate around its barycenter. In 2007, observations by the Gemini Observatory of
Dwarf planet Pluto's key orbital characteristics, and Pluto started being seen as the largest member of a new class of objects, plutinos. This led some astronomers to stop referring to Pluto as a planet. Several terms, including "subplanet" and "planetoid", started to be used for the bodies now known as dwarf planets. By 2005, three trans-Neptunian objects comparable in size to Pluto (Quaoar, Sedna, and Eris) had been reported. It became clear that either they would also have to be classified as planets, or Pluto would have to be reclassified. Astronomers were also confident that more objects as large as Pluto would