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by anonymous on January 3rd, 2007

anonymous

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So Pluto is no longer considered a planet. I got that much. What is it considered now and why?

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  • by basabasa on January 4th, 2007

    basabasa

    Ceres, Pluto, Charon and 2003 UB313 are barely visible. Now Charon will continue to be considered Pluto's satellite, and the three other worlds will be dubbed "dwarf planets" rather than full-fledged planets. The planets are drawn to scale, but without correct relative distances.

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on January 3rd, 2007

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    It is considered a "minor planet", a new category it shares with Ceres and other.

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  • by Mr. McClister on January 3rd, 2007

    Mr. McClister

    It is considered a Dwarf Planet because it does not meet the specifications to be considered a planet.

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  • by tjcool4121 on January 3rd, 2007

    tjcool4121

    A giant Comet

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  • by DjJavy on January 3rd, 2007

    DjJavy

    I think TheOnion put it well:

    http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56641

    NASA Launches Probe To Inform Pluto Of Demotion

    In August, the International Astronomical Union downgraded Pluto to a dwarf planet. The panel of experts met to officially redefine the characteristics of a planet. To deliver the news to the distant orb about its newly lowered status, scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center launched a special messenger probe in September.

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  • by Capt. Jack Sparrow GALCIY on June 22nd, 2008

    Capt. Jack Sparrow GALCIY

    Well, one might, if one were so inclined, refer to it as a Heavenly Body.
    But I prefer these examples of that, so tough call.

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  • by Glenn Blaylock on January 5th, 2007

    Glenn Blaylock

    Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. In order for a body to be considered a planet, it must

    1. be in an independent orbit around the sun,
    2. have enough mass to pull itself in to a round shape, and
    3. be able to clear its orbit of debris.

    Pluto fails on the third criterion. There is still a lot of debris in the neighborhood of its orbit. Thus is has been demoted to a dwarf planet.

    **************
    "yohoho05: can't we just give it a little more time and see if it does clear this debris?"

    There was a very good article on this a few months ago in Scientific American. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact issue other than that it was the last part of last year. Anyway, the upshot of the article is that Pluto and the other dwarf planets are incapable of clearing out their orbits because they simply lack the gravity to do so. All eight of the planets have arranged the debris in their neighborhoods so as to make collisions with this debris impossible. (This does not apply to debris that is on planetary orbit crossing paths. Just that which is in similar orbits.) They did this by either sweeping the debris up into the planets, ejecting the debris from their neighborhoods, or (in the case of Jupiter) forced them into Lagrangian points of stability (Trojan asteroids; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_asteroid). Once again, the dwarf planets do not have the necessary gravity to do this. So, their orbits are still littered with other bodies in similar orbits.

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  • by Sixty B - Commander Topcoat on June 22nd, 2008

    Sixty B - Commander Topcoat

    A has been.... Only collecting royalties from all those times it is referred to as a planet in syndication. :D

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  • by Chris on June 22nd, 2008

    Chris

    Pluto is now considered a Plutoid, and any other similar celestial objects we find shall be called the same.
    http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0804/

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  • by WonderEyes on April 6th, 2010

    WonderEyes

    it is considered a dwarf planet as other dried out stars are . it is called this because it is too small to be a planet so they had to downgrade it.

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