they will now consider it 8 planets in the solar system...led astronomers in Czech Republic, are who "they" are! now, i want to know "why?"
2006-08-24 05:55:52 · 8 answers · asked by thundakat312 4 in News & Events ➔ Other - News & Events
Main article: 2006 redefinition of planet
In order to put these matters to rest, in August 2006, 3,000 astronomers and scientists of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gathered in Prague, Czech Republic to deliberate. The organization planned to publish an official definition of "planet", ruling on whether to call Pluto a planet, dwarf planet or a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).[20][21] The draft proposal classified Pluto along with 2003 UB313 and any other spherical TNOs that may be discovered, as planets, although they will informally be labelled 'plutons'. The asteroid 1 Ceres and Pluto's moon, Charon, would also have been considered planets.
On August 24, 2006, however, the previous draft was reversed, according to the newly passed rule, Pluto was demoted from planetary status to a dwarf planet. There are three main conditions for an object to be called a 'planet', according to the IAU resolution. The first is that the object must be in orbit around a star, but not be a star itself. Secondly, the object must be massive enough to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. Thirdly, it must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. Pluto fails to meet these conditions but will act as a prototype for a yet to be named category of Trans-Neptunian objects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_redefinition_of_planet
2006-08-24 05:58:20 · answer #1 · answered by Level 3 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i think its the international astronomic union, basically the professional association for astronomers, but i heard they were reccomending that pluto and three other quasiplanets be added to a category all their own, so we kind of gain and lose planets at the same time
2006-08-24 12:59:57 · answer #2 · answered by zoe_2121 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
See there links.
2006-08-24 13:02:43 · answer #3 · answered by johnslat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have no idea. It pissed me off tho. I will always teach my kids that there are nine planets, because that is the way it should be. They probably didn't want to add the other ones, so they cut one. That was a horrible move. They need to change it back.
2006-08-24 13:00:21 · answer #4 · answered by gin 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It used to be a moon of Neptune, and it is smaller than many other moons in our system.
2006-08-24 15:16:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
More to the point, what does Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse think about it.
2006-08-24 13:01:52 · answer #6 · answered by kathy_is_a_nurse 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because it is not a planet it is just a big ball of gas
2006-08-24 12:57:27 · answer #7 · answered by oreobabylove 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe cus its just a piece of shyt floating in space that the azz-tro-nots dropped.
2006-08-24 13:01:38 · answer #8 · answered by Kati M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋