they might not classify Pluto as a planet?

Question

what do u think bout that? i just heard it last night on the radio... i like pluto!

Answer 1

Really the only reason it is still called a planet is tradition. It's rather obviously not one.

First it is a short-period comet, a Kuiper belt object. It is out in the Kuiper belt with other smaller AND larger objects for a great deal of it's orbit. It has a much more eccentric orbit than any other planet. It is not where a terrestrial planet should form from what we know about solar sytem formation. And it is composed of the same material as comets.

As if that wasn't enough to make it clear that it was not a planet...

It does have one notable natural satalite... it is almost as big as pluto itself and their center of mass is outside either body (so it looks more like they are spinning around holding hands than one is dancing abou the other. Many asteroids and meteors have other asteroids and meteors that hang around them... large objects attact satalites, there is nothing special about that.

Finally if you call it a planet because of it's roundness and atmosphere... we would have to call the earth's moons and some moons of Saturn and Jupiter planets as well, they are LARGER than pluto (and not comets to begin with!) and even our moon has a thin atmosphere.

This has to be one of the most rediculous arguements in astronomy. It just proves how stuck in tradition we are.

Answer 2

I agree with this:

"It's something of an embarrassment that we currently have no definition of what a planet is," Gibor Basri of the University of California, Berkeley, has said. "People like to classify things. We live on a planet; it would be nice to know what that was."

Basri has previously proposed simply setting a lower diameter limit for planet status, including all objects orbiting the Sun that are about 435 miles (700 kilometers) wide or more. That's roughly the bulk needed to allow gravity to shape an object into a sphere, depending on density. Smaller objects -- both asteroids and comets -- tend to take on odd shapes like that of a potato.

Basri's simple definition would boost the tally of planets in our solar system to more than a dozen based on presently known objects, including Sedna. And it would leave Pluto as a planet.

Many astronomers, though, simply don't see a solar system with more than eight planets.

"Scientifically, there really is no question" that Pluto should be reclassified, says Brown, the Caltech astronomer who helped find Sedna.

"Either Pluto is not a planet, or many other things are planets," Brown said today. "Which is a better choice? I want my planets to be more special, not less special, so I favor Pluto not being a planet. Emotionally, though, I have to admit that I have grown up thinking Pluto this special odd-ball planet at the edge of the solar system. While I now know scientifically that Pluto is less special, it's still hard to let go."

Answer 3

The problem is one of definition...no one...including the international astronomical union, which names planets and such...can come up with a definition of a planet that invokes consensus. By one definition, not generally accepted, our own moon is a planet.

To my way of thinking, any astronomical body that does not orbit a star cannot be a planet no matter what its size and shape are. There are other bodies, like 2003 something, out near the Kuyper belt (but 45 deg. above it), that are actually bigger than Pluto and orbit around the sun. They should be consider for knighthood into the royal order of planets.

Anyway, until the IAU comes up with a proper definition of what a planet is, all this wrangling is just creating so much hot air.

Answer 4

Pluto is NOT a planet!! If Pluto is a planet then we would have to classify the 4 moons in our solar system that are bigger than Pluto as planets. Heck, our moon is bigger than Pluto! Did you know that? Pluto is a Kuiper Belt object, get over it!!

Answer 5

it extremely is in basic terms in recent times that astronomers are turning out to be so fussy approximately what's and isn't a planet. The observe planet got here from the Greek and meant wanderer, or a wandering star, a element of sunshine that did no longer stay interior the comparable place each and every night like all different stars. in case you utilize that definition, each and all of the planets, Pluto and each and all of the asteroids fit the bill and are all planets. those days the communicate has centred on a greater definitive which skill because of the invention of the Kuiper Belt gadgets and planets around different stars. technological understanding is like that, it takes a subect and starts off to interrupt it down into smaller and smaller communities so as that each and every thing has a greater perfect definition. Pluto is a planet as far as i'm in contact, whose going to sue me over that? Jupiter is a substantial fat ball of gas that could desire to technically be categorized as a small brown dwarf star, yet its nonetheless a planet. do no longer concern approximately it except its on your technological understanding attempt next week, that's the only time you are able to memorize the respond your instructor needs.

Answer 6

Personally I don't think Pluto should be classified as a planet, mainly because of its crazy orbit around the sun which is unlike any of the other planets.

Answer 7

I believe that the International Astronimical Union has decided
to leave Pluto classified as a planet...
Will they ever change their minds ??
Who knows...
For now, Pluto is a planet...

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_Belt_Object

If it turns out to be a Kuiper Belt Object and not an actual planet, then it should be removed from the list of planets and we'll just have to get used to saying there are 8 planets in our solar system.


This, in a nutshell, is why science beats religion. That new gospel of Judas was discovered a few months ago, proving that Jesus asked Judas to betray him, that Judas was Jesus' most beloved apostle. What did the Catholic Church do with this new information? They ignored it. If it doesn't fit in with their narrow opinion, it may as well not even exist. The world of science would never allow such a crime against reason to occur.

Answer 9

Close. They may add Pluto's moon as a planet as it is almost as large. Also another fellow planet has been discovered revolving around our sun. Way out there may be added.

Answer 10

Scientists think Pluto might be an 'outsider.' It's just a hypothesis. Nobody really knows where it came from.