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Is Pluto a planet or plutoid? The debate continues...

Pluto is now officially classified as a plutoid, but astronomers are still unsure whether or not it should be considered a plutoid or planet.  One of the most popular debates among astronomers was yet again renewed during a conference at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory at the end of last week.

The director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson, supports the official demotion of Pluto, while Mark Skyes, Planetary Science Institute director, believes Pluto should still be considered a planet.

After Pluto's discovery in 1930, the debate over its possible planetary status started immediately among astronomers and members of the media.  The 24-year old researcher who discovered the planet, Clyde Tombaugh, considered it the official ninth planet, while many others hailed Pluto's discovery, but said it wasn't a planet.

Since then, Pluto's status remains unclear, with astronomers continuing to flip flop over the plutoid.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet in 2006, only to classify it as something else just two years later.  The plutoid classification was created specifically for dwarf planets similar in size to Pluto.  Specifically, dwarf planets orbiting further than Neptune can be given the new classification, and must circle the sun and have their own gravitational field.

The IAU's specifications for a regular planet include the ability to orbit a sun, enough gravity to make it almost round, and have the power to send out objects that enter their orbit.  Some critics of Pluto's demotion believe any nonstellar object that is round and able to orbit a star should be considered an official planet.

Only Pluto and the dwarf planet of Eris currently carry the plutoid classification, although astronomers expect to add other planets in the future.  Skyes and company believe Earth's solar system should have 13 planets, when it only has eight.  Ceres, which is an object in an asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, would end up being the smallest planet in the solar system, if the system were put into place now.

Tyson would rather not count planets, but instead group bodies together when they have similar properties, even if this may further complicate things.

There are some astronomers who say Pluto should be considered a planet but everything else discovered moving forward should be considered a plutoid.  Even after the debate at JHU, Pluto remains in limbo, and will likely still be classified as a plutoid until astronomers are able to unanimously agree how it should be classified.

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Pluto is a Planet
By oab on 8/19/08, Rating: 0
RE: Pluto is a Planet
By FITCamaro on 8/19/2008 12:44:45 PM , Rating: 5
I just wanna know who's paying for all these discussions. It's almost like these scientists are like "Hey we're kinda out of work to do.....I KNOW! Lets continue to argue about Pluto and have someone pay us to do that!"

It would been a lot cheaper to just leave Pluto a planet and say everything else farther out than it was a really big f*ckin rock.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By stirfry213 on 8/19/2008 12:58:44 PM , Rating: 4
This is like a whole bunch of geeks arguing whether Star Wars 5 or 6 was better.

Who cares! Call Pluto a planet and then classify everything else however you want and leave the damn thing alone. Its not like all the other plutoids are gonna say, "Why is Pluto a planet and not me? I wanna be planet! You are a celestial discriminator!"

/sarcasm


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By danrien on 8/19/2008 1:26:38 PM , Rating: 5
Star Wars 5 was better.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By daftrok on 8/20/2008 4:28:59 AM , Rating: 2
Star Wars IV was better.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By deeznuts on 8/19/2008 1:33:38 PM , Rating: 2
WTF is a star wars 5 or star wars 6?

There is only one Star Wars. Then the Empire Strikes Back, and finally Return of the Jedi.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By stirfry213 on 8/19/2008 1:47:43 PM , Rating: 2
*smack head*

Why didn't I see this comment coming?


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By SiN on 8/19/2008 3:56:13 PM , Rating: 2
im sure you mean "smacks head" and not "smack head".

i'd of preffered it if you meant smack head though :D


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By erikejw on 8/19/08, Rating: -1
RE: Pluto is a Planet
By DOSGuy on 8/25/2008 2:41:20 AM , Rating: 1
I'm not an American and I think Pluto is a planet. Anything that's massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity -- but not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion -- that orbits the Sun is a planet. If that means that there are dozens of planets, so be it.

Those in favor of disqualifying Pluto often talk about how small it is. That's true: Pluto has half the radius of Mercury, the smallest planet. Of course, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars all have less than 1/10th the radius and 1/1000th the volume of Jupiter. Our planet is a "dwarf planet" compared to the gas giants -- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It's a pretty weak argument to say that Pluto isn't in the same class of celestial objects as Earth and Mercury, but Earth and Mercury are in the same class as Jupiter. We're much closer in size to Pluto than Jupiter. The inner planets of our Solar System are relatively tiny, and yet they're huge, massive objects. So is Pluto. It's a big huge world that is so massive that it has been rounded by its own gravity, and even captured three or more moons. Pluto is a planet.

The "dwarf planet" designation is an arbitrary and unnecessary designation designed to prevent newly discovered worlds that are a little bit smaller than Earth from being called planets, while keeping Earth in the same league as the comparatively huge gas giants. If Pluto is a dwarf planet, so are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. There are big planets and small planets; terrestrial worlds and gas giants. You can sub-categorize them if you want, but at the end of the day, anything that's big and round and orbits the Sun is a planet.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By FITCamaro on 8/19/2008 2:53:13 PM , Rating: 2
Star Wars IV wasn't Star Wars. It was A New Hope.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By oab on 8/19/2008 3:18:05 PM , Rating: 1
It was called "Star Wars" no subtitle as the theatrical name when it was first launched, but the scrolling yellow text did call it "a new hope".


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By bribud on 8/19/08, Rating: 0
RE: Pluto is a Planet
By Seemonkeyscanfly on 8/19/2008 3:39:56 PM , Rating: 5
I believe Yoda, Obi-Wan and Luke would agree that Pluto is a small planet, but a planet all the same. I mean come on, they called it a death star – which was no bigger than a small moon. If that can be a star then Pluto can be a planet.

SW 6 rules over SW 5 - I just have one comment to that...Princess Leia Organa , barge, metal bikini - enough said.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By HsiKai on 8/19/2008 6:09:10 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I mean come on, they called it a death star – which was no bigger than a small moon.


I guess that's sarcasm, but on a more serious note, names for ships aren't the same as a classification of the ship. The Death Star could destroy planets just as Star Destroyers could, albeit requiring larger numbers. They both move about in space and shoot stuff while having a capacity to hold smaller ships/fighters/corvettes.

Officially, however, although it shares many of the same qualities as a Star Destroyer, the Death Star is a "space station."

As an aside, the second Death Star was anywhere from 50%-750% larger than the original. Definitely no moon.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By lightfoot on 8/19/2008 6:12:01 PM , Rating: 2
Technically they are Star Wars Episodes 4, 5 and 6.

Empire and Jedi were technically "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Stikes Back" and "Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi".

You could argue that Episode 4 was "Star Wars" and not "A New Hope", because A New Hope was not in the title. But you cannot argue that Episode 5 and 6 were not "Star Wars" - they did have "Star Wars" in the title.

And for the record Star Wars geeks would never argue about that - Episode 5: The Empire Strikes back is by far the superior movie. Teddy bears can not overthrow the Empire. There can be no argument.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By SiliconAddict on 8/19/08, Rating: -1
RE: Pluto is a Planet
By RIPPolaris on 8/19/2008 3:32:16 PM , Rating: 2
Empire had the better ending - Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader is his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett - it ends on such a down note. That's what life is, a series of bad endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By Seemonkeyscanfly on 8/19/2008 3:49:00 PM , Rating: 2
Jim Henson and his muppets rule man. Any one who can stick his hand up Yoda's bottom and live to tell of another day has real power. Of course Jim Henson is dead now, maybe Yoda was not so happy after all.


RE: Pluto is a Planet
By bodar