what is pluto if not planet?

Question

recent change in the status of pluto ..

Answer 1

The IAU members gathered at the 2006 General Assembly agreed that a "planet" is defined as a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

This means that the Solar System consists of eight "planets" Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A new distinct class of objects called "dwarf planets" was also decided. It was agreed that "planets" and "dwarf planets" are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the "dwarf planet" category are Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 (temporary name). More "dwarf planets" are expected to be announced by the IAU in the coming months and years.

Aloha

Answer 2

why they think pluto is not a planet

In a dramatic about-turn, the American space agency Nasa has announced that it is considering a mission to Pluto.

The statement comes just months after the agency cancelled all proposals to visit the outermost member of the Solar System.

Tiny Pluto, just 2,274 km (1,412 miles) in diameter, is the only planet that has not been visited by a space probe

Nasa is seeking proposals from principal investigators and institutions around the world to develop a mission. It says there are no restrictions on the launch date but the goal should be to reach Pluto by 2015.

The spacecraft should also fly by the planet's large moon Charon before continuing its mission to the swarms of smaller worlds that comprise the Kuiper Belt (KB), a ring of icy objects beyond the large planets.

Valuable opportunity

When Nasa ditched plans in September to visit Pluto, planetary scientists protested, saying that unless a mission reached Pluto by 2020 at the latest, a valuable opportunity to study the tiny world's atmosphere would be lost for 230 years.

This is because Pluto has a thin atmosphere for only 20-30 years out of its 248-year orbit of the Sun. For the rest of the time, the atmosphere freezes out.

Scientists would dearly love to get a mission off the ground by 2004.

It would normally take about 12 years to travel the 6 billion km (3.7 billion miles) to Pluto but if a mission is launched soon that travel time could be cut to just eight years.

Answer 3

It's a dwarf planet. Basically since Pluto was discovered in the 1930s lots of other bits of rock about the same size, or larger than, Pluto have now been discovered. Astronomers would either have had to upgrade every asteroid orbiting the sun as a planet, or downgrade Pluto. They chose the latter.

Answer 4

Scientists are on the case. LOL. They also thought at one time that Pluto was actually a moon to its moon. Making Charon or whatever its called the planet and pluto Charon's moon. So im not sure, but apparently everyone says its a dwarf planet, but they have changed their minds on what pluto is before so im sure they will change it again.

Answer 5

Just Pluto

Answer 6

If you had listened to the WHOLE report you would have noticed they changed pluto from a planet to A DWARF Planet.

Answer 7

Pluto got demoted from being a planet. It could be a dwarf planet. If Pluto is not a planet, how can it have a moon, Charon?

Answer 8

I think they discovered that it revolves round another lump of mass which gives it the characteristics of a moon rather than a planet

Its now referred to as a dwarf planet.

Answer 9

It a planet, a dwarf planet. Like a dwarf star is a star....

Here's a source of information, it's up to date too.

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jewitt/kb.html

Answer 10

The artist formerly known as Pluto.