Pluton not a planet?

Question

Yesterday it was decided in Prague that Pluton is not a planet as they found the new definition of the objects like that.
I am used to the names of all 9 planets of our solar system.
what do you think about it?

sorry for misspelling the name. In Polish it is Merkury, Wenus, Ziemia, Mars, Jowisz, Saturn, Uran, Neptun and Pluton so I did write the name in Polish.
I am happy though most of you know what I ment;)

Answer 1

OK, folks, have a bit of heart. Pluto is called Pluton in many languages, and the asker of this question is from Poland. Second, for the funny guy who decided it sounded like an element, well, DUH! that is because plutonium WAS named after Pluto.
Look at the sequence:
URANIUm, sounds pretty much like Uranus, no?
NEPTUNium, does this remind anyone of Neptune?
PLUTOnium, did we get the pattern yet?

Now, to answer the question, yes, that is a change, but not as big as the one that could have happened later as more objets (that would qualify for planet status more than Pluto) are discovered. Removing chunks of ice with odd orbit is one way to ensure we would not have to learn a dozen new names. Sorry about Pluto, but it simply was the first body that qualified as being too odd to be called a planet.

Answer 2

... And I always thought Pluto was the name of an animated dog of Disney fame!!

No ...actually, I don't think it matters the least whether they want to call it a planet or a dwarf planet; either way, it is still a "Planet"!

Also I don't think it should matter even if its orbit were almost perpendicular to the bulk of other planets. I can't see how such a criterion really decides the issue of what constitutes a planet.
The main thing is it circumnavigates the sun, even if its trajectory is more eliptical than most others ... The main thing is it is much more like a planet that [say] a comet - which also performs an elliptical trajectory around the sun, though usually with considerable variance re its distance from it!

It seems generally near enough to most planets to be considered a planet to me.

In addition, they havealso discovered another planet further out, more recently ... and no doubt, being that far out, it too, will possess behaviour not entirely like most other more central planets!
I'm sure they will find that out one day; so what will they do then: call that one some new name and type of heavenly body, I suppose!

I mean, we have to expect that bodies orbiting the sun that are out so far, are going to need other mathematical considerations in order to keep them orbiting the sun than the general formulae used to keep these closer ones in orbit.

Personally, I think it's great what Marvels God has created, and has also mathematically worked out out there!!

Answer 3

Sorry, but you say you're used to the names of all nine planets? Would those names be Mercuryn, Venusn, Earthn, Marsn, Jupitern, Saturnn, Uranusn, Neptunen and Pluton?

Addition: Well, now I'm all embarassed. Sorry for hassling your spelling, I didn't know it was Pluton in other languages - here I thought you were being a ditz when actually I was!

So more serious answer, I think the main impact it will have on our lives as humans is that those who have serious beliefs in Astrology might have to do a bit of quick rationalising!

Answer 4

Hehe, Pluton. Sounds like an element.

That is correct though. Pluto is no longer considered the ninth planet from the sun. It has to do with the way Pluto orbits our sun. Every one of the inside eight planets orbits the sun in the same plane. Imagine you took a bunch of hoola hoops of different sizes, and laid them out on the ground, one inside the other. This is what the inside eight orbits look like. Pluto, however does not line up with these. Pluto's orbit is tilted so that it is not within the sun's equatorial plane. In fact, Pluto's orbit also intersects Neptune's, so that even though it was generally considered the ninth planet, every once in a while it would be closer to the sun than Neptune was.

What this shows is that Pluto was not formed like the other planets. The other planets in our solar system were formed from a giant disc of gasses that existed billions of years ago. The disc spun, collapsed in the middle (creating the sun), then began to form the eight planets. Pluto was not involved in this. It was picked up by the sun, instead of formed with it. In fact, there are millions of objects that orbit the sun, many of which are larger than pluto, but these are not considered planets either.

Hope this helps.

Note: Thank's for noticing I thought it sounded like an element, then calling me stupid. I didn't make clear what I meant. I know of plutonium and uranium, neptunium, einsteinium, rutherfordium, francium, seabourgium etc... In fact, at one time I could name every element in the periodic table (I've forgotten about 20% of them), so don't call out a lack of knowledge. What I was noting there was the -on at the end, making it sound like the noble gasses (neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon...). That's all I meant. I didn't mean to offend anyone, if I did.

Also note: The definition of planet does not rest solely on the fact that it has a funny orbit. It deals with how the planet was formed. The funny orbit shows us that it was not created along with the other eight planets. Their new definition of planet is one that is created along with the star it orbits out of the giant disc of gasses that existed billions of years ago. This did not happen with Pluto.

Also, the fact that definitions are created by people enables us the freedom to change them at will. Fifty years ago, to be "gay" meant to be very happy. It still has that meaning now, but referring to the word "gay" will automatically imply homosexuality. The definition of planet is no different.

Finally, Pluto has not been a planet forever. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an amateur astronomer (making the knowledge of its existence younger than some people). Back then, they immidiately called it a planet because they knew less than we do now.

Answer 5

Pluto is still a planet. Definitions are invented, not discovered. The word 'planet' has an etymology older than modern astronomy, and though the definition is imprecise, that's ok. A small group of men in wigs and white robes does not own the word "planet", we the people do.

They should have invented their own word. I for one refuse to accept their authoritarian equivocation.

Answer 6

I've never heard of Pluton. I thought it was Pluto. Like that dog from Disney World?

Answer 7

Pluto is now a dwarf planet but what about the planet Sharon the new one very found a few years ago

Answer 8

Well, I shall be asking for a refund for my travel ticket.

They added some other dwarf planets.

The God of the Underworld is not amused.


Addendum: I heard the scientists were mad at Pluto for coming closer to the sun than Neptune, and messing up the little device they have used to remember planetary order, and demoting it was their payback.

Answer 9

Ah, my life is ruined. What are they thinking? All these years growing up believing that Pluto was a planet, when all along it's just a big hunk of rock. I demand a reasonable explanation as to why I've been fooled all these years!

Answer 10

In french it's Pluton