Pluto

[Lonely_Person]

I disn't really see that there was a post about this but I saw an article saying that scientists were claiming that Pluto wasn't a planet, more so a moon...it said that Pluto is orbiting around a planet and that it has the characteristics of a moon or a meteor...what do you think?

http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/article/0,,EXP666_NAV4-42_SAR920,00.shtml

this is where they were having a debate on whether it was a planet or not

[King Goldfish]

I'ts not a moon it's an asteroid from what I heard.

But now they found Planet X which would become the actual 9th planet if it can be confirmed its apart of our solar system and not in the belt of asteroids as Pluto is. The belt of asteroids that pluto is apart of may seperate the last planet now known as Planet X.

I guess no one has come up with a name for it yet.

[Lonely_Person]

Planet X? They can be a bit more original.

[dull_bullet]

When they confirm that planet X is a planet, it'll be given a proper name.

[Lonely_Person]

i guess but they couldve given it a name:D

[dull_bullet]

Well, we don't want to give a giant rock a name, only to find that it was thrown out of our solar system a long time ago, and the light from that rock is just reaching us now. (remember; light isn't instantaneous, looking at stars is like looking through time)

...that was totally off topic. But by now i'm sure Pluto is no longer considered a part of our solar system.

[King Goldfish]

Planet X? They can be a bit more original.

I kind of laughed when I first heard the name. But i think X stand for ten. Now its the 9th planet if it can be proven to actually be a planet.

[Swid]

I heard that they nicknamed it Planet Xena for the mean time...

[Lonely_Person]

Well, we don't want to give a giant rock a name, only to find that it was thrown out of our solar system a long time ago, and the light from that rock is just reaching us now. (remember; light isn't instantaneous, looking at stars is like looking through time)

...that was totally off topic. But by now i'm sure Pluto is no longer considered a part of our solar system.

yeah but it would be cool to give it a name that means something like "Unknown Thing" or however it's said in Latin

[Bloodwraith]

Well, I think Pluto should be considered a planet, but that is just my opinion. There has been a heated debate for years whether or not Pluto is a planet, and as of now, there really is no definite definition of what a planet is. Some think that if it's as big or bigger than Pluto it should be considered a planet, that's what I think it should be. I don't think that just becuase we are discovering more rocks beyond Pluto that are bigger than it, we should not call Pluto a planet. Of course, that is up to the astronomers to decide. They think that there are possibly planets as big as Earth out in the Kuiper Belt, which is the asteroid belt beyond Pluto. Amazing stuff.

[Chad]

i guess but they couldve given it a name:D


It has a name, Planet X... thats good enough for me.. I dont want think about an unnamed planet, whilst trying to sleep.

[Lonely_Person]

Well, I think Pluto should be considered a planet, but that is just my opinion. There has been a heated debate for years whether or not Pluto is a planet, and as of now, there really is no definite definition of what a planet is. Some think that if it's as big or bigger than Pluto it should be considered a planet, that's what I think it should be. I don't think that just becuase we are discovering more rocks beyond Pluto that are bigger than it, we should not call Pluto a planet. Of course, that is up to the astronomers to decide. They think that there are possibly planets as big as Earth out in the Kuiper Belt, which is the asteroid belt beyond Pluto. Amazing stuff.

I agree. There are asteriods out there that are bigger than the planets in our Solar system. But that's not the only characteristic of a planet. They have to realize that we have recognized Pluto as a planet for so long because of its features. Following that, it would seem weird to have something we have known so long of to be a planet being changed to something else.

[dull_bullet]

We only noticed pluto because it stuck out (vibrant blue). Otherwise, numerous asteroids in our solar system could be considered planets; there's just too many of them though.

[BamWam]

I have science class right now and the reason that Pluto does not fit in as a planet is because it does not meet the characteristics of Jovian or Terrestrial (sp.). It is basically a big rock in orbit with the Sun. It was noticed in the 1930's or somewhere close to there and they couldn't tell it was a planet. Well that is just a little bit of the facts about Pluto....

[Repth]

um.. somewhere ive read that "planet X" is named Sedna. im not sure but ive read it in a couple magazines and some online articles..

[Jack]

...it said that Pluto is orbiting around a planet and that it has the characteristics of a moon or a meteor..

What planet is that?

[King Goldfish]

Well, I think Pluto should be considered a planet, but that is just my opinion. There has been a heated debate for years whether or not Pluto is a planet, and as of now, there really is no definite definition of what a planet is. Some think that if it's as big or bigger than Pluto it should be considered a planet, that's what I think it should be. I don't think that just becuase we are discovering more rocks beyond Pluto that are bigger than it, we should not call Pluto a planet. Of course, that is up to the astronomers to decide. They think that there are possibly planets as big as Earth out in the Kuiper Belt, which is the asteroid belt beyond Pluto. Amazing stuff.


If it has an accurate rotation cycle that circles a particular star, it should be a planet. regardless of size. If it rotates around a planet and the star then it should be a moon. if its slowly moving out of its orbit or crosses other planets orbits, its then an asteroid and should be destroyed :mad: :tongue:

[King Goldfish]

What planet is that?


yeah, i never heard of that either. Pluto is a planet. it has its own rotation cycle around the Sun. It doesnt rotate around any planet.

[dull_bullet]

yeah, i never heard of that either. Pluto is a planet. it has its own rotation cycle around the Sun. It doesnt rotate around any planet.

Pluto doesn't rotate around a planet, no. (we don't think so anyway) But every so often, pluto's path crosses Neptunes, so that Neptune is the last planet in our solar system. The reason? Plutos orbit is even more elliptical than that of Neptunes, so it's skinnier. If i can find a picture it would make more sense. Anyway, Plutos orbit is not set, so it makes it just that much harder to prove it's a planet.

EDIT: Wikipedia knows all! here's a pic of what i was talking about. They messed up the shape of the orbit, i know that for sure, but it gets the idea across. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pluto_top_orbit_3.jpg

[King Goldfish]

Pluto doesn't rotate around a planet, no. (we don't think so anyway) But every so often, pluto's path crosses Neptunes, so that Neptune is the last planet in our solar system. The reason? Plutos orbit is even more elliptical than that of Neptunes, so it's skinnier. If i can find a picture it would make more sense. Anyway, Plutos orbit is not set, so it makes it just that much harder to prove it's a planet.

EDIT: Wikipedia knows all! here's a pic of what i was talking about. They messed up the shape of the orbit, i know that for sure, but it gets the idea across. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pluto_top_orbit_3.jpg



Are you sure it actually moved into its orbit? I would think after 4 and a half billion years that they would have collided by now. Mars has a crazy eliptical orbit patern. Almost an egg shape. Its a planet.

[King Goldfish]

this is decieving. Because its not moving into the orbital path of Neptune but it appears to because of the angle of this illustration. Its looking down (if thats really possible in space since there is not north or south) and they dont actually cross paths in the true sense but parallel one another

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Pluto_top_orbit_3.jpg

[Acid_Corona]

What planet is that?

They're talking about Pluto's moon, Charon.

Check out this website for a ton of information about the planet Pluto.
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm

[Repth]

oh you beat me to it, i was just going to say that!. that picture above makes it look as through pluto revolves around saturn.

but maybe not all the planets are next to each other. it is space after all so the planets arent exactly like.. how do i say this.. 2d? some might go above or under other planets or something? revolving at an angle?

[dull_bullet]

Yeah, that picture sucks, the labels look really bad, and the orbit is wrong. If i find a better pic i can put it up here.