From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_%28planet%29 Pluto is the ninth planet from the Sun in our solar system. Because Pluto is also the smallest planet in our solar system and has a highly eccentric orbit (which takes it inside the orbit of Neptune) there has been some debate regarding whether Pluto should be classified as a planet. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_%28planet%29#The_Pluto_debate for full details over the Pluto debate. Also. . . Pluto discovered 75 years ago, but what is it? Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Posted: 10:12 AM EST (1512 GMT) from http://www.cnn.com FLAGSTAFF, Arizona (AP) -- It's been 75 years since the discovery of Pluto, but it remains a mystery. Perhaps in another 10 years some of its secrets will be revealed when a space probe gets close enough for a good look. Pluto was quickly heralded as the ninth planet in the solar system when it was spotted February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, a young amateur astronomer at Lowell Observatory. It still holds that title today, if somewhat tenuously. "It's a misbehaved planet if you want to think about it as a planet," said Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York's Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Tyson provocatively removed Pluto from his exhibit of planets five years ago, lumping it instead with a belt of comets at the edge of the solar system. "I still have folders of hate mail from third-graders," he said. Pluto was discovered in a search for a theoretical ninth planet. The 26-year-old Tombaugh was given the assignment. Had he not been so attentive, he might have missed Pluto as he stared through an eyepiece while switching back and forth between photographic images of the night sky over northern Arizona. But he believed right away the recurring speck he saw was the elusive Planet X later called Pluto. Generations of schoolchildren grew up memorizing solar system charts that included Pluto. But shortly after Tombaugh died in 1997, some astronomers suggested that the International Astronomical Union, a professional astronomers group, should demote the tiniest planet. At the time it was discovered, Pluto was the only known object beyond Neptune in the solar system. When its moon, Charon, was spotted, that seemingly confirmed Pluto's planet status. But astronomers also have found about 1,000 other small icy objects beyond Neptune. There may be as many as 100,000 of these bodies in what's called the Kuiper Belt, said Bob Millis, director of Lowell Observatory. Pluto, with its elongated orbit and odd orbital plane, seems to behave more like other Kuiper Belt objects than other planets, some astronomers say. They also point out Pluto is very small, smaller than Earth's moon. "You start to see where Pluto fits in better with Kuiper objects," said Hal Weaver, project scientist on the New Horizons mission, which hopes to launch a probe to Pluto next year, possibly reaching it as early as 2015. Tyson's decision at the Hayden Planetarium to remove Pluto from the planets and lump it with the Kuiper Belt seemed to strike a nerve. Tyson speculates that the name -- the same as the Disney character which also debuted in 1930 -- and its position as the littlest planet make it a favorite with schoolchildren. "The Plutocracy, as I like to call it, is greater than we want to admit to ourselves," Tyson joked. But others have pointed out that Pluto remains unique among known objects. "If you don't call it (a planet), what else do you call it?" asked Kevin Schindler, senior supervisor of public programs at Lowell. Pluto is very spherical like other planets. Asteroids and comets tend to be misshapen, said Weaver, a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. Pluto also has an atmosphere and seasons. Complicating the debate is that there is no official definition for a planet. Setting standards like size limits or orbital patterns potentially invites other objects to take the "planet" label, while throwing Pluto out. "It's a controversy that flares up and then subsides. I don't know what the outcome will be," said Millis. "It's more interesting to me: What is Pluto really like, than what is Pluto?" Astronomers hope to get some answers to that question, and the birth of the solar system, with the New Horizons mission. But it will take nearly a decade to reach the icy rock. In any event, the debate over what to call Pluto is mostly a question of semantics, Weaver said. And even if it somehow loses planet status, he believes it might still be the largest of the Kuiper Belt objects. "Some people thought (the debate) was a slight of Clyde Tombaugh. You were trying to take away his planet," Weaver said. "I'm sure that it was nothing personal."

where have you been? no.

unfortunatly it got demoted to dwarf planet, so in astrological terms it is not

Now they say its not but i still call it a planet.

NO!

No, they have declared it a moon now

i still think of it as one-even though it is said that it is no longer classified as such---smile and enjoy the night

no, not anymore. I actually bought a shirt when they downrated it to a dwarf planet (thats what they call it righ?) that says "Pluto you will always be a planet to me"

I think it's still a debate: Pluto, planetary body counted as the ninth planet in the solar system after its discovery in 1930. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. The new IAU definition of a planet that changed Pluto's status is not accepted by some scientists, who continue to recognize Pluto as the ninth planet. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

no, it is now a planetoid, poor thing. Bit like St Christopher. There you are doing your thing for so long, and then someone decides you just ain't good enough. LOL

Depends on who you ask I guess. It's still a planet in my book.

From what I heard, it aint a planet anymore since they said it was too small or something.

No it's a planetoid.

:( Unfortunately not...or at least not officially.

Pluto is considered a dwarf planet, which is not the same as a PLANET (if that makes sense).

last i heard no....i wonder how Pluto feels, i mean that's a far worse Downrate than anything on AB.

Not anymore. It got demoted.

YES. And I think we should re-adopt it as one! I mean, it's not just some really big rock or anything... ^.^

Yes but could also be Mickey Mouses dog.

Not anymore...it is classified as a planetoid.

Its an abritrary definition. A mountain is over 1000 ft above the surrounding terrain, so the Sawhill mountains of northern Minnesota count as mountains, but not when comparred to the rockies. Pluto is smaller than several moons in the solar system.

That depends on your definition of a planet ... it WAS considered a planet once, but then the astronomical community redefined "planet" and reclassified Pluto and its neighboring chunks based on their orbital paths, sizes, masses, and behaviors, so it is no longer considered a planet. At first, we thought it was all alone, then we noticed another rock we called Charon and thought it was a moon orbiting Pluto, then we noticed that both Pluto and Charon orbit each other in a binary pair type of orbit, along with a few other tiny rocks, and since there is no clear central planet with no clear outer moon, the whole group has been reclassified.

It was..and has now been reclassified as too small to be a planet...But deep in my heart of hearts Pluto will always be a planet:)

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will answer with a question, if you don't mind. Now that I am mother of two and grandmother of five,am I still a girl?

It was reclassified but in my opinion it will always be a Planet. Same sort of thing as they decided StChristopher was no longer a saint. I do not think too many people stopped wearing his medals.

Sadly it is not a planet anymore. I am quite bummed about this disheartening news.

Not any more, it's just a planetoid.

Not at the current date. It is now a Dwarf Planet.

No silly, Pluto is a dog.

It is a plutoid.

Technically speaking "Yes" because it has its own orbit around the sun like all the other planets and on a different plane to all the other planets which makes it quite unique.

Officially no, as of a few months ago, but a lot of people are not at all happy about it.

The outermost astroid belt in the milky way is called the Kaiber belt. That's the belt that has pluto orbiting in. most scientists consider pluto as an asteroid since it is too far away from the sun to be in our system and so small that it's just a very large asteroid. That's why pluto is in fact, not a planet.