Pluto no longer a planet?

Question

Is anybody else experiencing post traumatic stress disorder from the crippling news that a ball of gas lightyears away is no longer considered a planet? Has this rocked the very foundation in which you based your existance on? 5th grade science a waste of time? Can you go on?

I just flexed my planet ignorance muscle, I didn't know Pluto (now pluto) was rock. Thanks.

Jared Z, have you ever been shut in a locker, or been the victim or a swirly or wedgie?

Answer 1

I will continue to live, but why?

Answer 2

On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally redefined the scientific term “planet.” Ancient people tracked the paths of the planets through the sky long before the advent of recorded history. Planets orbiting other stars were first identified in 1988, and over 200 extrasolar planets have now been identified.

The 2003 discovery of Xena (2003 UB313) posed an immediate dilemma. Since Xena is larger than Pluto, either Xena and perhaps 20 other solar objects are planets, or Pluto and all such objects are something else. Since Pluto had always been an oddball compared to the other planets, the new definition seems to make a great deal of sense.

JUST GET USED TO IT !!!

Answer 3

The recent planet Pluto debate is just the latest scheme by a bunch of over educated old men trying to justify their paychecks and what they do. In light of the fact that what they do is just live off the rest of society. The whole space race was justified as an endeavor to do "science". Do you think the average 8 to 5 poor working smuck gives a flighing fig about what the moon is made of or whether or not Pluto is a planet?

Answer 4

Sorry, but lots of things in science change from time to time, when we get to know them better.

Your fifth-grade science may not have been a waste of time, but there was a moment or two there when your mind wasn't in it. When saying, "news that a ball of gas lightyears away is no longer considered a planet" in the context of a question about Pluto, I get the idea that you have no idea what Pluto was in the first place.

Pluto, first, is a ball of rock, with another big rock orbiting it. Pluto is roughly a billion miles from the sun, which is a far piece from even one light-year. A light year is a tad bit under 6 trillion miles. That is sort of comparing a single dollar bill in one pocket to six thousand dollars in another pocket.

For another thing, there are balls of gas and balls of gas. Balls of gas "lightyears away" are usually called stars and they are often very large, very bright, and very hot balls of gas. The balls of gas in Pluto's vicinity are very large, but usually much smaller than stars, very bright, but usually because of their size they reflect more of our star's, the sun's, light from our perspective, and they are very cold. Stars make their own light. Planets are seen from the light they reflect. Pluto is so far away and so small, that it doesn't reflect much light and you pretty much need a telescope to see it if you knew exactly where to look. Some of the planetary balls of gas, like Jupiter and Saturn, you won't need a telescope. For Uranus and Neptune you will need a telescope, but they are easier to see than tiny, dim Pluto. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are called gas giant planets and are really cold, colder than the freezer in your refrigerator at home. Pluto, for that matter is very cold too. It has a little atmosphere (which I am disappointed that this wasn't included in the definition of a planet) and since Pluto will be going into its winter in a comparatively few years from now, it will get so cold that its atmosphere will freeze to the surface.

Am I disappointed? Yep, but to me Pluto will always be a planet--I just understand when astronomers start to talk about the planets and omit Pluto. In my mind I will always be saying, "and Pluto." And, yeah, I'll probably be able to go on with my life, just as you will.

Answer 5

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 6

Pluto is a planet, but what scientists knew since the beginning is that Pluto didn't have the same rotation around the sun like the rest of the planets, thus, Pluto was not originally part of our solar system. A close and casual theory is that Pluto was pulled to our system and remained here.
Astronomy is like any other pure science that you study just because it is there and it's true. Like math. Numbers are just there.

Answer 7

Pluto the planet we all knew and loved, got demoted.
that majorly sucks.
especially since all those minutes studied remembering all the planets in order, for my science test 4 years ago, have now gone to waste.
pahhh. who knows how much time i couldve saved if they made the definition of a planet back then!?!?

Answer 8

First of all, pluto is NOT a ball of gas. It's a small icy rock.

Second, it is NOT lightyears away. It's only about 40AU's away (1 ly is over 63,000 AU's).

Apparently, 5th grade science was a waste of time for you! :)

Answer 9

Reality is more important than words. We should be more interested in how is Pluto rather than what is Pluto. The "dwarf planet" definition is not a very lucky one. If it is a dwarf planet, it is a planet anyway, just as dwarf stars are stars.

Answer 10

And what shall we do about the rhyme to remember naming the planets.

My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets.

If there is no longer a P in it?

Answer 11

No, I am not. Also, Pluto is not a ball of gas, it is a rocky planet like Earth (only much smaller and colder).