they said cuz its small? thats screwed up its like taken out kansas the map just wouldnt look right
2006-09-04 15:30:01 · 20 answers · asked by launchpad 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
why now? what about our history books how are we gonna change all of them for the last 50 years
2006-09-04 15:41:42 · update #1
the international astronomical union defined three terms "planet", "dwarf planet", and "small solar system body". this does not change anything about the solar system or pluto. it just corrects the mistake of classifying pluto as a planet initially.
i have been waiting for this since i was about twelve. i feel somewhat satisfied. this was the right thing to do, believe me. this same thing happened when astronomers found so many bodies between the orbits of mars and jupiter in the early 1800s.
because pluto orbits the sun, is round, does not have an isolated orbit (a bunch of other similar bodies have similar orbits.), and is not a satellite it is a dwarf planet.
(1) A "planet" is 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 neighborhood around its orbit.
(2) A "dwarf planet" is 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, (c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "small solar system bodies".
look here:
http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0603/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt
2006-09-04 16:59:28 · answer #1 · answered by warm soapy water 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not so much as the size as the way it behaves. There are asteroids (between Mars & Jupiter) that are about as big as Pluto, but we've always called them "minor planets". Pluto definitely qualifies as a minor planet due to it's size, but there's more to it.
It's orbital behavior is not even close to that of the other planets or even the asteroids. All the other planets can be found very close to the solar "disc" known as the plane of the ecliptic. When Clyde Thombaugh found Pluto, it just happened to be crossing this plane. Pluto was VERY lucky to be discovered when it was. Had Clyde Thombaugh been looking for "Planet X" maybe 10 years before or after he did, Pluto wouldn't have been in the narrow band of the sky that he was searching.
Clyde Thombaugh was an awesome astronomer. He demonstrated how tenacity, patience, and faith can pay off, but even Clyde Thombaugh was disappointed by Pluto's pitifully small mass. He was looking for something that was massive enough to account for Neptune's strange orbit, and Pluto was not the object he was looking for. Clyde Thombaugh discovered the first Kuiper Belt Object, and that alone makes him a hero.
It's like that old saying..."if it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck". Unfortunately, Pluto is not like a duck.
2006-09-04 22:54:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They decided to redefine the term "planets" is to be fair to other existing planets. For eg, 2003UB313 is bigger than Pluto. So should they add in more planets to the solar system?
Astronauts and scientists discovered more and more things and there are a lot more arguments. No doubt Pluto is the biggest in the Kuiper belt, but further away, there are bigger planets. Comparing all 9 planets, Pluto is not huge. And in the Kuiper belt there are about 100 over asteroids. So, is Pluto like just one of the many?
Too many arguments. Anyway, check out the definition of "planet" in wikipedia. It should give you a summary?
The defintion consists of 4 points, which I think Pluto did not meet the last requirement, so they decide to categorize it under dwarf planets instead.
If you are interested, you could watch some documentaries.. They are really interesting.
2006-09-05 14:35:27 · answer #3 · answered by Bell 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The solar system didn't kick Pluto out.
It was a team of scientist who had put Pluto into a different classification: It is now said to be a so called dwarf planet, but not a regular planet any more.
2006-09-05 07:15:18 · answer #4 · answered by jhstha 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because if they were going to decide what were and were not planets based on any objective criteria Pltuo just didn't make the cut. If it was going to be a planet then their were several more objects in the solar system that would have to be called planets. So, they decided on criteria that left the number of planets at 8 rather than having the number jump up by alot.
2006-09-04 22:36:46 · answer #5 · answered by M.McNulty 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The solar system didn't kick Pluto out. People just redefined it. And, yes, it is basically because it is too small. And it has a weird orbit, more like an asteroid than a planet.
2006-09-04 22:34:31 · answer #6 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They kicked it out because it travels above and below the orbital plane of the other eight planets. It also comes very close to the orbit of Neptune at one point. Supposedly there are hundreds of other spherical objects near and beyond Pluto that behave the same way.
I know, it is stupid. But some old astronomer geezer in the Czech Republic decided this several weeks ago.
2006-09-04 22:34:09 · answer #7 · answered by Oklahoman 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The solar system isn't throwing Pluto out of the club, just some people who think that when it comes to planets, size does matter.
2006-09-04 22:31:59 · answer #8 · answered by just♪wondering 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Too many questions on this and I still don't know why they kicked pluto out of the system.
2006-09-04 22:35:28 · answer #9 · answered by Ah Boi 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because apparently it doesn't classify as a planet anymore...but its a dwarf planet :) and the solar system didn't kick it out...it was the scientist astronomer peeps.
2006-09-05 00:30:22 · answer #10 · answered by way2_insane 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋