I am getting ready to teach the solar system.
Pluto is a dwarf planet.
2007-01-10 05:13:09 · 5 answers · asked by Nicole B 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No, no, and no. My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nothing! That's what I say!
Instead of copying & pasting, check out the link below... it should be helpful for your classroom agenda.
An interesting note: A recent survey by the Hubble Telescope identified 16 new planet candidates by focusing on a star cluster that takes up an area of sky equal to about 2% of a full moon. One of the planets has a Ultra-short duration -- the shortest ever observed. It orbits it's star about 1 time every Earth day.
There have been hundreds of new planets discovered orbiting stars outside of our solar system by observing the planets gravitational effects on the stars they orbit (the 'wobble'). Most of the planets are about the size of Jupiter or bigger.
2007-01-10 05:17:09 · answer #1 · answered by Mickey Mouse Spears 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to current international astronomic rules, they are not. Ceres is too small. "Xena" (now Eris) and Senda are probably too small. All three live in cluttered orbital lanes, so they don't fit the definition. (Actually, some of the "planets" don't quite fit that requirement either. The politics of uninhabited space rocks is mysteriously complicated.)
But all of them orbit the Sun, which is the traditional definition of "planet". What the International Astronomical Union calls a "planet" does not affect its orbit, size, composition or other characteristics. That goes for Pluto too. They are still out there. So you can think about them any way you want.
2007-01-10 05:26:52 · answer #2 · answered by skepsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ceres was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi, director of Palermo Observatory, on January 1, 1801, which hardly makes it "new", unless your local news media are just getting around to reporting that Napoleon was named Emperor of France. From the 1850s until last year Ceres was regarded as the largest asteroid. However, last year the International Astronomical Union, in a very controversial decision, adopted a definition of "dwarf planet" which includes Ceres and Eris, as well as Pluto. Ceres has no known moons (there have been searches for one). Pluto has three, Charon, Nix, and Hydra. Eris has one, Dysnomia. There are spacecraft on their way to Ceres and Pluto.
2016-05-23 04:56:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. None are planets
2007-01-10 05:17:15 · answer #4 · answered by bradthepilot 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
- "Sedna", has been classified as a planet.
- "Ceres", is an asteroid.
- "Xena", is a fictional warrior princes. :)
2007-01-10 06:02:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋