Pluto Essay

Many issues have arisen from the debate whether or not Pluto is a planet. Some astronomers say that Pluto should be classified as a “minor planet” due to its size, physical characteristics, and other factors. On the other hand, some astronomers defend Pluto’s planet status, citing several key features.

Astronomers now label Pluto as a “dwarf planet” because it does not meet all of the criteria to be a planet. It is also not alone in its orbit; it is part of a wide group of small-scale objects that have been detected revolving around the Sun beyond Neptune.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson wrote The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet to examine why Pluto ought not to be considered a planetary body and instead a dwarf planet or Kuiper Belt Object.

People love Pluto, whether they are young or old it does not seem to matter. The ‘planet’ (and Walt Disney’s beloved character) holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Yet, this only became clear to me after reading The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I remember when Pluto’s classification changed from being a planet to a dwarf planet however, I was never aware of how big of a controversy it caused. The fact that there was a conference deciding whether or not we should keep Pluto as our ninth planet was not something I was aware of previously to this book. Tyson does a wonderful job explaining the story of Pluto and not only the how the planet was reclassified but also why.

Pluto was found by a scientist in 1930. Through that time there was debates over whether this little ball of ice should be not considered a planet. It shouldn't”t be a planet because it does not dominate its neighbors.Also, Pluto’s orbit overlaps Neptune’s orbit That is not acceptable.Another Pluto has a moon a bit bigger than itself .On universe today it states “What does “cleared its neighborhood” mean? As planets form, they become the dominant gravitational body in their orbit in the Solar System…... Pluto is only 0.07 times the mass of the other objects in its orbit. The Earth, in comparison, has 1.7 million times the mass of the other objects in its orbit.” This is saying its too small to be a planet. Also on Starchild, it says “Pluto is usually farthest from the Sun. However, its orbit "crosses" inside of Neptune's orbit for 20 years out of every 248 years. Pluto last crossed inside Neptune's orbit on February 7, 1979, and temporarily became the 8th planet from the Sun.

Once, Pluto was considered the ninth and most distant planet from our sun. Pluto was discovered by an American astronomer name Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. But before being discovered, an American astronomer name Percival Lowell was actually the first to caught hints of Pluto’s existence in 1905. He suggested that there was another world’s gravity that was tugging at the two planets, Neptune and Uranus, from beyond. It turns out that there was another planet, the smallest and ninth planet from the sun, Pluto. The now dwarf planet was named by an 11 year old girl from Oxford, England whose name was Venetia Katharine Douglas Phair or Venetia Burney. The astronomer did predict the planet’s location in 1915, but unfortunately he died without finding

Secondly,what is pluto,a planet,a planet oid or a comet? The outward-bound voyager one and two spacecraft were both launched in 1977,which started the drama about Pluto. Pluto is twice the size of Ceres and the largest known asteroid.

The International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto was too small to be a planet and created a new category to put it in, dwarf planets. Dwarf Planets are classified as “A) a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, B) has sufficient mass for it self- gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that is assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, C) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and D) is not a satellite”. The criteria for both planets and dwarf planets are very similar, though planets must be able to clear the neighbourhood around its orbit. This basically means that a planet must be able to complete a rotation around the sun without interfering with another planets orbit. Pluto is very close to Neptune so they had a chance to collide into each other. If you look at a visual it is clear that there orbital rotation paths intersect with each other at two locations. This is another reason why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Pluto should not be considered a planet because it did not meet requirements. There are many requirements that bodies have to meet to be considered a planet. The body of pluto meets some of the requirements needed to be a planet. The requirement it meets is that's a sphere. The requirements that it doesn't hit is that it didn't clear its orbit around the

Pluto should be given the title “planet” for a number of reasons. Pluto was classified as a planet in 1930 until the International Astronomical Union altered the definition of a "planet" and stripped Pluto of the title. Some Astronomers say the International Astronomical Union’s planet definition is fundamentally amiss. The new definition requires that a planet has to gravitationally clear its orbit. What about the Trojan asteroids at Jupiter? What about space dust? That rule could dwindle the number of planets to zero. David Aguilar of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics asserts, “If we can adjust the definition of planet, just slightly, then Pluto can be included in our solar system.” Most astronomers say Pluto is too small,

Not only that but Pluto orbits in a somewhat oval shape while others orbit in a more spherical shape. This is just another point on why pluto is different from other planets.

Pluto was discovered, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, on 18 February 1930. This period in astronomy was of intense planet hunting.

The controversial topic whether Pluto is a planet of the solar system or not, can be answered simply.Pluto is correctly classified as a dwarf planet, therefore should no longer be represented as a planet.

“Spacecraft Will Reach Pluto in July, Revealing Last Face in Solar System” by Nadia Drake July 2015: National Geographic

In addition to Pluto past research about Pluto, NASA is still researching, exploring, and studying more and more about this dwarf planet today. In 2006, the first mission to Pluto was launched by NASA. It was called New Horizons, a spacecraft that is going to the verge of the solar system. New Horizons was sent to study and take pictures of Pluto, its moon, and other worlds within the Kuiper Belt up close. The space craft is said to be about the size of a piano. It was also said that it was a nine year trip to finally reach Pluto in 2015. On July 14, 2015 New Horizons has successfully made its closest approach to Pluto. It is said that it will take 16 months to download all the data the New Horizon collected during its flyby of Pluto and its