2007-06-01 12:21:37 · 15 answers · asked by BOOP! 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Pluto is a planet. It orbits the Sun, has three moons, at atmosphere, and is rounded by it's own gravity. The people at the IAU just didn't want to categorize more planets, so they demoted it. Pluto has cleared it's orbit because Neptune also crosses Pluto's orbit.
2007-06-01 12:39:07 · answer #1 · answered by North_Star 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pluto is too small to be a planet, so it is now a dwarf planet. There are comets and ice and chunks of other stuff out there that are bigger than Pluto, so if Pluto was a planet they could be planets too.
I've always known Pluto to be a planet so now its weird not having it there anymore.
2007-06-02 20:50:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It actually still is. It's just now a dwarf planet according to the new definition of "planet" set by the IAU in 2006. The new definition of a planet follows:
1. is in orbit around the Sun,
2. has sufficient mass so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and
3. has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit.
Since Pluto has yet to clear the neighborhood around it's orbit, it was demoted to being a dwarf planet. The definition is still somewhat ambiguous, as the roundness of the planet and "clearing of the neighborhood" isn't exactly clear cut as some of us would like to be.
2007-06-01 23:28:07 · answer #3 · answered by rb_1989226 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto discovered in 1930 and has a revolution of 248.42 years around the sun and only a little smaller then Earth, not all planets are spinning in the same direction as to a big bang theory so lets just dismiss them, not, Its a planet just doesn't fit evolution.
2007-06-01 19:41:03 · answer #4 · answered by sbales777 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto IS a planet, it has just been downgraded to dwarf status due to its irregular orbit and the fact that, if Pluto is a full-fledged planet, so are three other satellites that orbit the sun even further away from it than Pluto is.
2007-06-01 19:25:44 · answer #5 · answered by Delynn 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.
Pluto has been demoted because it does not dominate its neighborhood.
In addition, bodies that dominate their neighborhoods, "sweep up" asteroids, comets, and other debris, clearing a path along their orbits. By contrast, Pluto's orbit is somewhat untidy.
2007-06-02 05:58:20 · answer #6 · answered by dighalbank 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually Pluto is still a planet. Now it is just being classified as a dwarf planet, because of its size and irregular orbit.
2007-06-01 20:52:29 · answer #7 · answered by . 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know but i think that's crap! All these years we were brought up to believe Pluto was a planet and now they take it away from us. How do they expect us to keep up with all of the changes they make in this crazy world!
2007-06-01 19:25:35 · answer #8 · answered by londa627 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I heard Pluto is not a planet because it is too small.
Pluto is too small to be a planet they say.
But, they have new planets I don't know of..
2007-06-01 19:30:26 · answer #9 · answered by Jeannie C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the best reasons is that it does not lie in the ecliptic--the plane of revolution that all of the other planets revolve around the sun--suggesting that it was not birthed from the sun but joined the other planets sometime later.
2007-06-01 19:26:56 · answer #10 · answered by supastremph 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋