Is pluto a planet or not?

Question

Is pluto a planet or not? i think pluto is just a giant rock in outer space. With a lot of ice, because it's so far away from the sun and doesn't get sunlight either. From what i know there was only one man who saw pluto.Also would you go to pluto? Why or why not? I wouln't if i did i would die because it'll take a long time to get there and you'll probably turn into ash or something.

Answer 1

no, pluto is not a planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

pluto does orbit the sun, is ball-shaped and is not a satellite, but it does not have an isolated orbit (a bunch of other similar bodies have similar orbits.) so it is not a planet, and it never was. this was the right thing to do, believe me. this does not change anything about pluto or the solar system. this just corrects the mistake of classifying pluto as a planet initially.

i have been waiting for this since i was about ten when i learned that pluto didn't fit the pattern set by the major bodies in the solar system so it was an anomaly. it just felt "out of place". now that astronomers have found hundreds of other bodies with similar orbits, classifying "134340 pluto" as a planet is even more irrational. i feel somewhat satisfied, but i don't know how long this will drag on tho. many planetary astronomers are not satisfied that the definition is rigorous enuff. i can accept that the definition is flawed, but i can not accept that "134340 pluto" is a planet.

this same thing happened has happened before. in 1800, an astronomer found a body orbiting the sun between the orbits of mars and jupiter and thought it was a planet. astronomers finally stopped classifying them as planets in about 1850 after they found several other bodies with similar orbits, and no one thinks ceres, pallas, juno, and vesta are planets today.

incidentally, "134340 pluto" was never a moon of neptune. neptune did capture triton. this is why triton has a retrograde orbit. many astronomers consider pluto and charon to be a binary system, but two small bodies orbit that system. they are called nix and hydra

Answer 2

Well let's break down this question.
1. No it is not a planet anymore because a group of scientist with nothing better to do decided to demote it to a dwarf planet.
2. Your statement that you think it is a giant rock with lots of ice, because it is far from the Sun, and does not get sunlight either is rather a strange statement don't you think?
3. As far as your statement regarding only one man has seen Pluto is very wrong, I have seen Pluto in the telescope many times, and I believe others have also.
4. In reference to you question as to weather or not I would go to Pluto, No! there is nothing there that I would want to see, and
5. Yes, you would not survive the trip.

Answer 3

Some ppl consider pluto to be a planet..but i dont think it is..a while ago...i think they took pluto off the list of "planets" because they believe it could just be a ball of ice. Also, pluto revolves around the sun in an akward orbit. I would not advise going to pluto because you would most likely die once you reached the planet because of the temperature.

Answer 4

In my opinion Pluto isn't a planet like the other 8, but rather I agree that it is a dwarf planet like the reclassification states. I think the International Astronomical Unon had it right when they declassified it as a planet and classified it as a planet. First of though we have to define what a planet is and also what a dwarf planet is which is what Pluto is now considered to be.

The International Astronomical Union came up with 4 points that have to be met in order for a body to be classified as a dwarf planet:

a) The body must be in orbit around the Sun;
(b) It must have sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape;
(c) It has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit; and
(d) is not a satellite

They also agreed on what a body must be to be classified as a planet:

a)The body must be 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 cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

Pluto's orbit is another factor that made it clear that its status had to be revised. Pluto's orbit is very eccentric, which means that unlike the other planets that follow a near circular path on their way around the sun, Pluto's orbit is highly inclined. This eccentric orbit actually brings it closer to the sun for a subtanial time during its orbit. Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the sun. During 20 of those years its orbit is within that of Neptune.

The discovery of Eris which is another body beyond the orbit of Pluto and a little larger reignited the debate over Pluto's status. Eris is thought to be part of the solar system known as the Keiper belt which is very similar to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but is commonly known as a Trans Netunian Object. If Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto in 1930 had known about the Keiper belt it is very unlikely that he would have classified it as a planet.

If Pluto had kept its planet status it could mean in 30 years time when we discover other bodies like Eris (who like Pluto is now a Dwarf planet) we could have a solar system with 20 or 30 planets orbiting the sun.

I can't say that I would like to go to Pluto, at least not until I have visited to other places. Mars and jupiters moon Europa. Europa would be a must because scientists believe that beneath its icy surface lay a liquid ocean and as a marine scientist that intrigues me no end. If I had the time though then yeh why not, but it would be number 1 on my list.

This is just my humble opinion though :)

Answer 5

i don't know what everyone is calling Pluto now days but i grew up calling it a planet and just cause a bunch of jerks in lab coats think that its OK to change their minds after so many years of saying one thing I'm not buying it as far as i can tell its OK to call it a planet i see no reason to think other wise I've seen no proof to the opposite and if there is any it is probably written in a way that keeps the non jerk in a lab coat guessing

Answer 6

The classification criteria for being a planet is, and has been, determined by scientists. As of last year, they no longer consider Pluto a planet.

Answer 7

I don't care what a bunch of nerdy scientists say... I will always consider Pluto a planet.

Answer 8

pluto is a planet because it follows an orbit around the sun but it is made of mostly frozen components and it is not quite like the rest of the planets.

Answer 9

No. Pluto is no longer a planet since it fails to meet the (new) requirements for 'planethood' established a couple of years ago.

HTH

Doug

Answer 10

Pluto is no longer classified as a planet. It is now being used as a casino greeter in Las Vegas.