I'm confused - as far as I can tell, Pluto (justfully) lost its planethood status due to the fact that its orbit intersects with the orbit of Neptun.
But wouldn't that also compromise the status of Neptun?
Please clarify/elaborate.
2006-08-24 13:51:31 · 6 answers · asked by Ejsenstejn 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Alright you tools - Nature agrees with me:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7106/full/442965a.html
2006-08-30 13:26:55 · update #1
They footnoted Neptune into the planet category.
2006-08-24 13:53:09 · answer #1 · answered by kpizura 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You mean Neptune... oh yes that's still a planet. It's the eighth planet away from the sun.
Yes Pluto's orbit intersects that of Neptune but this has nothing to do with the new planet definition.
What demotes Pluto is the fact that within it's own orbital path are other planetary bodies and hence therefore does not dominate it's neighbourhood. In particular, they say that Charon which is twinned with Pluto is more than half the size of Pluto whereas all other moons around the other planets are much smaller.
What disappoints me about the new defintion is that it's not very scientific at all and I thought the whole point about this debate was to establish a proper scientific definition.
They say that Pluto's path is a bit 'untidy'. Well I say the new definition is a bit untidy. Even the major planets have other orbiting bodies in it's 'neighbourhood'. The definition only gets away with it because of the word 'dominate'. And how can a planet be 'demoted' if we are still calling it a planet by saying it's now a dwarf planet? As someone answered in another Yahoo question on this topic it's like saying a dwarf is not a human.
There might yet be another rethink on this topic by the IAU.
LONG LIVE PLUTO!
2006-08-24 14:48:46 · answer #2 · answered by philturner66 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is. It is massive enough with a regular orbit around the sun. The trouble with Pluto was it was not fully round and its orbit crossed that of Neptune, at times it came close to the sun than Neptune (did not keep its environment clean) Neptune did not go out of its regular orbit to intersect with Pluto.
2006-08-24 13:54:29 · answer #3 · answered by Pyramider 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neptune is not a cold rock floating in a far elliptical orbit crossing another planet's orbit. Neptune has gasses on its surface. It has an atmosphere. It has rings. Pluto does not.
2006-08-24 13:57:46 · answer #4 · answered by tecsklls9 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, Nepture remains a planet; its orbit is essentially round. Pluto is the one with a weird orbit that crosses that of Neptune.
2006-08-24 13:57:43 · answer #5 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No is would not be compromised, neptune has zero in common with pluto
2006-08-24 13:54:03 · answer #6 · answered by brad4ever 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋