2007-03-16 17:22:29 · 8 answers · asked by Dana O 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Pluto got dissed! It is still a planet in my book!
2007-03-16 17:30:05 · answer #1 · answered by Tarheel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is Pluto a planet???? Yes and no...
Well for starters, Pluto is just too small. In the neighborhood where Pluto lives? Planets are supposed to be huge. The Jovian planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are 20 to 300 times the size of the Earth, and Pluto is really small compared to the Earth, smaller than our Moon. Kind of stands out.
And Pluto is not made out the same material as the Jovians. The large planets are mostly gigantic spheres of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. Likely there are no solid surfaces, only denser and denser gas all the way in. Pluto is a small solid world of methane, water, carbon dioxide and ammonia ices, maybe a little rock and with a just hint of atmosphere (that freezes out and falls as snow in her "winter").
And third, Pluto's orbit is the most eccentric (oval shaped) and the most tilted to the plane that the rest of the planets orbit in. Also, Pluto is locked in a resonance with Neptune's orbit and comes closer to the sun than Neptune sometimes.
There were theories that Pluto was a lost moon of Neptune but that was before we discovered she a has one large moon (Charon) half her size (pretty much, this system is a double planet) and recently two other teeny-tiney moons (Nix and Hydra).
Pluto seems like she cant be an ejected moon-she must have formed on her own and seems to be part of an entire army of small icey-dwarf objects that circle just outside Neptune's orbit in what is known as the Kuiper belt. We have no idea of how many or how large these objects may be, hundreds???? NOT "planets" proper, hence the new term "dwarf planet" where Pluto is king.
But... I still think Pluto SHOULD be called a planet because of historical reasons (discovered by an American, financed by Percival Lowell, Tombaugh's life story, etc).
2007-03-18 08:00:14 · answer #2 · answered by stargazergurl22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto is considered to be a "dwarf" plant. It is still a celestial body within the solar system and still orbits the sun. Scientists declared Pluto a dwarf plant in 2006 due to it's very small mass as compared to other planets. Most textbooks still say there are 9 planets in our solar system and Pluto is one of them.
2007-03-17 00:39:17 · answer #3 · answered by rockyboyrussell 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always thought it was abnormal. Look at the solar system: 4 rocks (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and then 4 gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and then another rock with an orbit that reminded one of a comet. I'm glad Pluto was reclassified as a minor planet. It makes more sense.
2007-03-17 00:31:17 · answer #4 · answered by smartprimate 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can 'consider' it a planet if you want, but its not a matter of belief. Based on how we currently define planets, Pluto isn't one.
2007-03-17 00:26:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I DO! i was so said when they said pluto wasn't a planet anymore. we all know that deep down inside its a real true planet.
2007-03-17 00:26:42 · answer #6 · answered by nycgurl0812 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well,It's still a chunk of space real estate,why not?
2007-03-17 00:25:55 · answer #7 · answered by moebiusfox 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Excuuuuse me but I think Pluto is a dog with the Disney company... Duh
2007-03-17 00:32:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋