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greenflash · 2009-07-22 17:06:39

As many of you may have heard a while (2006) ago, pluto is not a planet. I recently read a book about pluto's demotion to dwarf planet, and I wondered, "What does everyone else think of?" and I dare you to come up with a place better to ask this question than on the foums!!

So post your opinion on pluto and it's story. No swearing or dissing people.

Just in case you didn't know, this is our current definition of a planet.

1) It must orbit a star(so it's not a moon)
2) It must have enough gravity to have pulled itself into the shape of a sphere (roughly)
3) It must have cleared it's orbit of objects similar in size to itself, in other words, the amount of debris that crosses it's orbit is insignificant to the mass of the planet in question. It must have dominated it's orbit.

So have fun! If you have any questions about pluto or astronomy, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Planet-Supporters:
The-Whiz
Norberts
zachandrew0123
illusionist
iamrpk
TheCatAndTheBanana
Coolperson
Henley
FoxDur
Adriangl
Goldfish01
KalinaStar
Imic
Boogawk

Anti-Planet Supporters:
pinochio
deatheater
shadow_7283
filo5
Chrischb
BWOG
Dav09
Jonathanpb

smile smile smile smile smile

Coolperson^

Last edited by greenflash (2009-08-28 20:12:20)

The-Whiz · 2009-07-22 17:11:08

Nice...

Based on the definition you gave, I would classify Pluto as a planet...

Other topic: I read a book called Death From the Skies by Philip Plait, if you like astronomy you might like this.

pinochio · 2009-07-22 17:21:58

pluto is a dwarf

greenflash · 2009-07-22 17:32:44

The-Whiz wrote:
Nice...

Based on the definition you gave, I would classify Pluto as a planet...

Other topic: I read a book called Death From the Skies by Philip Plait, if you like astronomy you might like this.

According to The IAU, pluto hasn't cleared it's orbit sufficently... But I think there are other things that set pluto apart that the definition doesn't consider...

deatheater · 2009-07-22 18:11:40

I remember reading somewhere, pluto also half orbits it's own moon (they orbit each other), so I classify it a dwarf planet

Mayhem · 2009-07-22 18:11:57

Such as?

deatheater · 2009-07-22 18:18:14

It must be a certain size

greenflash · 2009-07-22 18:18:47

deatheater wrote:
I remember reading somewhere, pluto also half orbits it's own moon (they orbit each other), so I classify it a dwarf planet

Yeah, their center of gravity is between them, not in side one or the other... (does that make sense?)

deatheater · 2009-07-22 18:20:42

yeah it makes sense (well at least to me)

The-Whiz · 2009-07-22 18:23:50

Yes that makes sense.
Pluto
__________
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
\ /
\___________/

. <------------Center of gravity

__________
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
\ /
\___________/

Moon

greenflash · 2009-07-22 18:23:59

Mayhem wrote:
Such as?

well, the rest of the planets' orbits in the solar system are like this ------, pluto's is like this /. (it's tilted!)

Also, pluto crosses into the orbit of neptune because it has an eliptical orbit

Pluto's atmosphere freezes when it is farther from the sun, and it melts when it's closer to the sun. (rather like a comet.)

Another planet, Eris is accually larger than pluto, so if pluto is a planet then so is eris.

If your looking for a book, check out The Pluto Files by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Last edited by greenflash (2009-07-22 18:24:29)

samurai768 · 2009-07-22 19:42:16

I was bummed out when they said pluto wasnt a planet and when they gave it a new name, wait, never mind, IT WAS A NUMBER!

greenflash · 2009-07-22 19:51:02

The-Whiz wrote:
Yes that makes sense.
Pluto
__________
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
\ /
\___________/

. <------------Center of gravity

__________
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
\ /
\___________/

Moon

Yeah, but if it's a true moon (not a double planet), the center of gravity is in the planet

()moon

( . ) planet. Dot is the center of gravity

Congrats on 1000 posts!

The-Whiz · 2009-07-22 19:57:08

Thanks!

Blade-Edge · 2009-07-22 21:15:54

the planet being destroyed is pluto big_smile

big-bang · 2009-07-22 21:49:37

greenflash wrote:
1) It must orbit a star(not a moon)
2) It must have enough gravity to have pulled itself into the shape of a sphere (roughly)
3) It must have cleared it's orbit of objects simila in size to itself, in other words, the amount of debris that crosses it's orbit is insignificant to the mass of the planet in question.

Sorry, I'll just be an annoying editor...
In point 1, you mean "planet", right? There are no known instances of a moon with a moon.
In point 3, it should "dominate its orbit" which means that all debris is cleared and larger objects aren't present.
Sorry, I'm an astronomer in my spare time so I just needed to do that.

joeisawesome · 2009-07-22 22:16:33

I ate Pluto. That's why it's so small tongue

greenflash · 2009-07-22 22:21:44

big-bang wrote:
greenflash wrote:
1) It must orbit a star(not a moon)
2) It must have enough gravity to have pulled itself into the shape of a sphere (roughly)
3) It must have cleared it's orbit of objects simila in size to itself, in other words, the amount of debris that crosses it's orbit is insignificant to the mass of the planet in question.
Sorry, I'll just be an annoying editor...
In point 1, you mean "planet", right? There are no known instances of a moon with a moon.
In point 3, it should "dominate its orbit" which means that all debris is cleared and larger objects aren't present.
Sorry, I'm an astronomer in my spare time so I just needed to do that.

Cool me too!

Anyway, number one means
It must orbit a star, basically, a planet is not a moon (that is confusing wording isn't it...)
Thank you for the word dominate, it was on the tip of my tongue!! Thank you!!! lol

dingdong · 2009-07-22 23:59:46

pluto is something we call a new things fools, god you always think everything is going to remain the same, why can't anyone develop NEW stuff! we're always just upgrading the old crud, actually think outside of the box rather than just think you're thinking outside of the box!

Chrischb · 2009-07-23 01:10:01

I know that Pluto isn't actually a planet... and I don't like that. I'm still not used to its rejection from the group, which must sound silly.
Poor Pluto.

spacetime · 2009-07-23 01:51:05

We have defined rules. Now we can simply check each of the rules and see if it passes.

http://pikibook.com/physics/astronomy/hacks/discover-and-name-a-new-planet

zachandrew0123 · 2009-07-23 10:02:56

i don't care what they say! I started my still growing childhood and Pluto was a planet..IDC what people say, Pluto is a Planet.

shadow_7283 · 2009-07-23 10:35:43

Nah, Pluto is not a planet. It does not have enough mass to fit the classifications, so the rules would have to have all sorts of exceptions for Pluto, which would also make the rest of the dwarf planets planets in our solar system. In my opinion, Pluto is not much more than an overlarge comment in orbit.

Half-Wolf-Leader · 2009-07-23 12:01:44

"It's okay Pluto, I'm not a planet either."

BWOG · 2009-07-23 13:28:35

All of you that have been talking about Pluto's moon, Pluto has 3 moons. One of them is called Nix but I can't remember the other one's name.

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#1 2009-07-22 17:06:39

Pluto??

#2 2009-07-22 17:11:08

Re: Pluto??

#3 2009-07-22 17:21:58

Re: Pluto??

#4 2009-07-22 17:32:44

Re: Pluto??

The-Whiz wrote:

#5 2009-07-22 18:11:40

Re: Pluto??

#6 2009-07-22 18:11:57

Re: Pluto??

#7 2009-07-22 18:18:14

Re: Pluto??

#8 2009-07-22 18:18:47

Re: Pluto??

deatheater wrote:

#9 2009-07-22 18:20:42

Re: Pluto??

#10 2009-07-22 18:23:50

Re: Pluto??

#11 2009-07-22 18:23:59

Re: Pluto??

Mayhem wrote:

#12 2009-07-22 19:42:16

Re: Pluto??

#13 2009-07-22 19:51:02

Re: Pluto??

The-Whiz wrote:

#14 2009-07-22 19:57:08

Re: Pluto??

#15 2009-07-22 21:15:54

Re: Pluto??

#16 2009-07-22 21:49:37

Re: Pluto??

greenflash wrote:

#17 2009-07-22 22:16:33

Re: Pluto??

#18 2009-07-22 22:21:44

Re: Pluto??

big-bang wrote:

greenflash wrote:

#19 2009-07-22 23:59:46

Re: Pluto??

#20 2009-07-23 01:10:01

Re: Pluto??

#21 2009-07-23 01:51:05

Re: Pluto??

#22 2009-07-23 10:02:56

Re: Pluto??

#23 2009-07-23 10:35:43

Re: Pluto??

#24 2009-07-23 12:01:44

Re: Pluto??

#25 2009-07-23 13:28:35

Re: Pluto??

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