Three Astronomy Arguments...?!?

Question

What is the best overall debate, and/or biggest controversy for any of these subjects.
"Dark Energy & Dark Matter"
"Black Holes"
"The definition/origin of a Planet, Pluto's status"

(EXTRA: And where would be the most informative place to get some research on it...?!?-Besides the NASA Site, Hubble's Site, or Wikipedia)

Answer 1

Black holes and the string theory supporting the energy of a vacuum are very complex subjects.

the definition of a planet is something people can get their minds around. This would make for a much meatier debate.

Arguments on the other subjects would be incomplete and not well imagined, not well communicated and few would understand when the arguments don't make sense. Unless the debaters are theoretical physicists.

Look up planets on wikipedia and look at the very bottom of the page. You will find external links to many pages on sources for planetary discussions

Answer 2

Firstly, the most informative place would be science magazines like New Scientist or Cosmos. They offer detailed and concise explanations on the different breakthroughs in science.

To answer your first question, all three have been equally controversial although the third one about Pluto has really stirred up the public a lot! Dark Energy has been given as an explanation of why the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. Basically, it satisfies the mathematical explanations so it has been thrust as a possibility. You must understand that all theories arise from mathematical correctness. Dark Matter on the other hand is been thought of as the 'other' matter in our universe accounting for a lot of the total matter in the cosmos. It was thrust out as a theory due to the fact that our universe should be contracting due to the gravitational forces but apparently, it is expanding due to a greater mass. Astronomers had to figure out what that extra mass was and voila..out came dark matter!!

Black Holes is less controversial than what people make it out to be. Black Holes do exist but it is a matter of seeing it with your naked eye but we have not yet!

Unfortunately, Pluto had to leave the planetary family due to the fact that it was too small! Yes, I think that the fact that Pluto has climate conditions, a suitable surface suggest that it is indeed a planet and not an asteroid or comet. So long Pluto and welcome Planet Xena!

Answer 3

go with the definition of a planet. much easier to understand.