Pluto... Planet or dwarf?

[EJ_Nova]

Lots of debate lately about the new decision upon the definition of planet. The main issue being that Pluto is no longer considered a planet by the new definition, but is put into a new catagory called dwarf planets. Dwarf planets include Charon, the body that Pluto share's it orbit with, Ceres & Xena (2003 UB313). The two definitions that were being debated were 1: A planet is any body not considered a satelite that is large enough to maintain a generally round shape. (Thanks to gravity, when a planet reaches a certain mass all surrounding matter trying to force itself to the centermost point of the gravity well makes it generally spherical.) and 2: A planet is large enough to maintain a round shape and is the dominant body in it's orbit.

The decided upon definition -
(1) A planet [1] is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. (Meaning it is the dominant body in it's orbit)

(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape [2], (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects [3] orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.

[1] The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

[2] An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either "dwarf planet" and other categories.

[3] These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.

I, for one, agree with the final definition. What does everyone here think?

For more information check here-
Wiki 2006 Redefinition  

[fantasier_xp]

Yes! I most definately agree! Pluto is not a planet. It just doesn't fit. In scince class we dabated this... It makes sense that it's not a planet, not just because of the new rules either. All the outer planets are big and gaseous, but Pluto is so far away, so tiny, and a ball of ice. And it has such an odd orbit, kind of like that of a comet... Except not as oval shaped... Mm hmm.  

[Epic Fail Girl]

I don't really believe that Pluto is a planet, but I'm wondering why it is so important how we classify some of these masses in space. Whether it is a planet, moon, asteroid, etc. does not determine how well it will be studied.  

[Vedol]

I think they're right making pluto a dwarf planet its just to small to be a normal planet.  

[icecurb]

yes it may be to small to be classified as a actual planet, and no it doesnt have any gasious content surounding it.... but i dont think it is much like a comet as fantasier_xp meantioned cause it doesnt have a tail of debree like many larger comets do, but unlike the majority of all dwarf planets pluto has 3 moons circling it constantly...personaly i belive it is classified as a dwarf planet dispite the multiple moons circling it.  

[EJ_Nova]

icecurb

yes it may be to small to be classified as a actual planet, and no it doesnt have any gasious content surounding it.... but i dont think it is much like a comet as fantasier_xp meantioned cause it doesnt have a tail of debree like many larger comets do, but unlike the majority of all dwarf planets pluto has 3 moons circling it constantly...personaly i belive it is classified as a dwarf planet dispite the multiple moons circling it.

Moons have nothing to do with the definition. Comets and asteroids often have satellites (moons) orbiting them. Gaseous content also has nothing to do with it. Mercury, for example has no atmosphere other than a little sodium gas and helium3, and many other non-planet objects have atmospheres. Also, comets are not the only objects other than a planet or star. Not being a comet doesn't make it a planet. It's classified as a dwarf planet because the center of gravity that it and it's moons revolve around is not directly in pluto itself, but somewhere between pluto and charon. Pluto is not a planet because it shares it's orbit with charon instead of charon orbiting it. Pluto is also really considered a member of a swarm of bodies called the Kupier belt. There are many Kupier belt objects like pluto that even have moons themselves. Pluto isn't even really the biggest object in the Kupier belt.  

[Real Horrorshow Groodies]

Yes, i suppose Pluto does fit those definitions. Its orbit is kind of funny. But not in a "ha ha" sot of way ninja  

[lord exious]

wether dwarf or regulare it is a planet  

[EJ_Nova]

lord exious

wether dwarf or regulare it is a planet

Did you even bother to read the first post? I mean, really. You didn't even make a point there. stare  

[Aednit X.]

I agree with the definition that Pluto is not a planet, but in fact a dwarf planet. It seemed like a weird planet to me when I studied it science class because it was really small and had an irregular orbit. It is apart of our solar system in such a way though, that it isn't a sattelite either. I'm glad that this new classification was created to accomodate celestial bodies like Pluto that don't really fit into the other two categories.  

[shadow_alchemist92]

this isnt really a debate. debates have to do mostly to do with morallity, stats, and opinions. planets and dwarf planets have definite qualities, meaning there isnt any real debate over the issue. pluto shares more of the caracteristics of a dwarf planet than those of an actual planet, end of discussion  

[EJ_Nova]

There is also scientific debate. There was debate over this because the scientific community hadn't yet specifically defined what planet means until now, and a lot of people disagreed with the definition they went with.  

[[ Mod ] James]

I dont see why sientists are arguing over something as meaningless as wether or not pluto is a planet. Its a tiny cold rock kajillions of miles away that no one cares about...so they need to stop arguing about it cus it serves no purpose whatsoever.  

[goldmaste78]

i still reguard pluto as a planet becuase yes it may be small but its still part of solor system and moons obirt it and it borits the sun like every other planet and moon so just becuase its small doesnt mean its not a planet so yes i think they where wrong about calling it a dward planet  

[EJ_Nova]

goldmaste78

i still reguard pluto as a planet becuase yes it may be small but its still part of solor system and moons obirt it and it borits the sun like every other planet and moon so just becuase its small doesnt mean its not a planet so yes i think they where wrong about calling it a dward planet

There are many many things in our solar system that are not planets. It's size isn't the only thing that keeps it from being a planet.