u ?????????????
2006-08-24 12:02:29 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
It's looking more like an asteroid. They have found approx. 100 similar items in the area. Get ready for only eight planets.
2006-08-24 12:04:52 · answer #1 · answered by Michael J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is just a matter of definition. More than 70 years ago, when it was discovered, it was thought to be larger than it is but it was obviously orbiting the Sun, and definitions weren't as strict then, so it was called a planet. It has always been different--its orbit is more elliptical, and not on the same plane as other planets.
So now, the meaning of 'planet' has at last been redefined, and Pluto failed the test.
Pluto is still there, still in a 200+ year orbit, but now it is a 'dwarf planet'.
2006-08-24 21:49:01 · answer #2 · answered by PBarnfeather 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. it has been recently decided by the International Astronomical Union last that Pluto is NOT a planet. There are only 8 planets now. They have made a new definition of the word PLANET, and apparently pluto does not fall into it.
the new definition states that: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."
Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.
2006-08-24 19:10:42 · answer #3 · answered by abstemious_entity 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was a planet before but now it's nomore a planet.
Pluto, a planet since 1930, got the boot because it didn't meet the new rules, which say a planet not only must orbit the sun and be large enough to assume a nearly round shape, but must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." That disqualifies Pluto, whose oblong orbit overlaps Neptune's, downsizing the solar system to eight planets from the traditional nine.
2006-08-24 19:27:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was from 1930, when it was discovered, until yesterday. Then, scientists got together and decided to define planets with enough pressure on them to make them round, and which have a regular orbit around the sun. That lets out Pluto on both counts--it's an irregular stony mass, and its orbit is unusual, since it crosses Neptune's. They've instead designated it as a type of sub-planet, along with several other bodies.
2006-08-25 08:21:26 · answer #5 · answered by cross-stitch kelly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As of today, Pluto is no longer defined as a planet. Sorry. It is now considered a "Dwarf Planet" which really isn't a planet at all. Yahoo! had the story this morning...do a Google search in news for it and read the latest article about it....
2006-08-24 23:38:51 · answer #6 · answered by squigit1985 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it is. It's got a stable, if irregular, orbit around the sun; an independent gravitational field and atmosphere; it has its own moon, for goodness sakes! A group of elitist European scientists cannot remove Pluto as a planet just by saying so. It always has been a planet, and it always will be.
2006-08-26 02:46:04 · answer #7 · answered by nacmanpriscasellers 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
News just in today from some bigwig astronomer convention - Pluto has been booted from the list of planets. I guess they figured it was easier to dump Pluto than to "create" a bunch of new planets from objects that are actually bigger than Pluto. Too bad. Pluto's been a planet all of my life. I'll miss the ol' rock.
2006-08-24 21:50:41 · answer #8 · answered by Spel Chekker 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
pluto is a planet! It is the 9th planet from the sun! there is no way that people could live on it though because it is soo cold! but yes Pluto is a planet!
2006-08-24 19:08:52 · answer #9 · answered by lovelandstars101 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto is no longer a planet because it's orbit crosses through Neptune's.
2006-08-25 15:40:05 · answer #10 · answered by Lyle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋