I picked my four year old up from pre-school today & she informed me that Pluto burned up last year. Apparently, the teachers are telling them that it just burned up.
I did hear on NPR last year... a special about whether or not they are still going to consider it a planet but burn up??? This can't be true???
2007-03-06 04:52:04 · 15 answers · asked by Punk Rock Gurl 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I mean I think I would have heard something. I'm constantly listening to National Public Radio but nothing. Where on earth would they get an idea like that???
2007-03-06 04:57:43 · update #1
I didn't say I heard that Pluto burned up on NPR. I said I heard a special about not calling it a planet. Read through man, read through.
2007-03-06 05:23:25 · update #2
Unfortunitly my daughter didn't misunderstand. I wish she had. Here is a blog that I just posted on myspace:
Did you hear?? The (ex) planet Pluto burned up last year.
Did you hear?? The (ex) planet Pluto burned up last year.
This is what my 4 year old daughter told me today when I picked her up from school. I thought for sure she was talking about the model of the solar system on the bookself.
What?? Pluto didn't burn up! It was decided by scientist & astronomers that it would no longer be considered a planet but instead be called a dwarf planet. It is still out there... cold & icy. How could it burn up?? If it burned up wouldn't we all burned up?
Her teacher overhears our conversation & assures me that Pluto did indeed burn up last year. Her argument... see our new map of the solar system... pluto is no longer on it... it burned up last year.
NO IT DID NOT!
I'm arguing with Olivia's "teacher" about Pluto's existence.
WTF!!!??? is going on?
aaaarrrrggggg.
2007-03-06 05:25:35 · update #3
hermiona:
Did you even read the question? Nice cut & paste though. Kudos
2007-03-06 06:46:24 · update #4
Nothing happened to Pluto. It was merely reclassified by astronomers. They saw that the new discoveries, Eris, Sedna, Quaoar and all the rest were very small and had oddly shaped and tilted orbits. Pluto was more like them than the other planets, so they made a new category to put them in.
Somehow people get the idea that you can't talk about Pluto anymore because it's not a "planet". But it's still there, rocky, cold, small and loopy as ever. We're even sending a space probe there. NPR covered the "demotion" several times.
2007-03-06 08:27:12 · answer #1 · answered by skepsis 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
From its discovery by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, Pluto was considered the Solar System's ninth planet. In the late 20th and early 21st century, many similar objects were discovered in the outer solar system, most notably the trans-Neptunian object Eris which is slightly larger than Pluto. On August 24, 2006 the IAU defined the term "planet" for the first time. This definition excluded Pluto, which was then reclassified under the new category of dwarf planet along with Eris and Ceres. Pluto is also classified as the prototype of a family of trans-Neptunian objects. After the reclassification, Pluto was added to the list of minor planets and given the number 134340.
2007-03-06 06:41:28 · answer #2 · answered by ђermiona 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Though Pluto is no longer a planet, it did not burn up. The scientists who authorize objects in space as planets decided that Pluto was too small to be considered a true planet. It is now labelled a dwarf planet, but still perfectly intact!
2007-03-06 05:00:04 · answer #3 · answered by whatifgecko 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto did not burn up. Last August astronomer's from all over the world voted to demote Pluto to a dwarf planet. The teachers are telling lies. Their sources are false.
2007-03-06 08:12:11 · answer #4 · answered by Belru Tytor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I love the public school system. It is no longer listed as a planet, so they just tell the kids that it went away. That is how we build a strong foundation of science and logic in our children. Just lie to them.
It did not burn away. (A very long distance from the sun. Not a great chance of burning up) It lost it's status as a planet. So we now just have 8. But it is still out there. A long way off just doing what planets do.
B
2007-03-06 05:12:40 · answer #5 · answered by Bacchus 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not true. Pluto was discredited as a planet when they decided that without all of the ice, it's smaller than a moon. If it were burining up, everything would, because it's the furthest (ex)planet in the sun in our solar system, making it the coldest.
2007-03-06 04:57:03 · answer #6 · answered by Maxie D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, I think your child's teacher has it completely arseways... Pluto's been demoted last year, yes - but it's still there, and in fact, it has always been an icy planet, so I doubt there's been any burning prior to last year.
You might want to consider sending your child to a better school?
2007-03-06 05:17:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, Pluto was discredited as a planet to a dwarf last year. But they also found another planet that is a bit farther than Pluto and they are thinking of crediting that mass as a part of our system.
2007-03-06 05:30:28 · answer #8 · answered by dennys 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, it is Not True, I assure you. She heard that it is not considered a planet any longer because it is a frozen mass and if reduced (or melted) it would be too small to qualify as a planet and more like a moon. How 'bout that? @8-)
2007-03-06 04:57:28 · answer #9 · answered by Dovey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it did not.. the astronomers where having a debate over what constitutes a planes and when it was all said and done Pluto was no longer a planet because it did not fit the new criteria
2007-03-06 05:02:14 · answer #10 · answered by chris a 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋