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The word "planet" has been divided into two newer concepts: major planets and dwarf planets.
The definition of major planet excludes Pluto because a major planet must have cleared its orbit of asteroids, comets, and other debris. Pluto is a part of the Kuiper belt, and has not absorbed most of the cometary bodies into itself, or captured them as satellites. Pluto is therefore a dwarf planet.
The rules of a planet are:
- It orbits a star or the remnants of a star
- It is large enough for gravity to squash it into a sphere-like shape
- It must have cleared its orbit
Pluto's orbit has many icy bodies in its path, most of them in the Kuiper Belt where Pluto spends most of its time.
The definition of planet was changed in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). As a dwarf planet Pluto is in the same category as Eris (which is bigger than Pluto), Ceres (king of the asteroids), and possibly other bodies being discovered in the Kuiper Belt.
Wiki User
∙ 6y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoPluto was never considered a major planet. The primary reason it is now classified as a dwarf planet is because it has not cleared its orbit of debris. Furthermore, some Kuiper Belt objects are larger than Pluto. If Pluto is a planet, Ceres should be too (which was classified as a planet longer than Pluto was), and Eris, and why not Charon, which is more like Pluto's co-planet?
Wiki User
∙ 11y agogood question, maybe you should ask the one who considered it a dwarf planet..... I am sure that is not possible, but it was too far away from the sun and the rest of the planets. So they didn't want it to be a planet anymore. I have wondered this myself.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoPluto is much smaller than was believed originally, when it was discovered. The modern definition of a major planet, however, is that a planet has somehow "cleared the neighborhod" of its orbit, whatever that means.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoIt is too small, planets are supposed to be big, but Pluto kinda shrunk.
Kyle Zhou
because it's not! So, sorry PLUTO
Anonymous
It is smaller than the Moon. That literally isn't a planet.
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Do you say Pluto when you mention the major planets?
No, because Pluto is not considered a planet by the scientific community.
Is there enough evidence to support the idea that Pluto is not a planet?
That's a difficult question to answer, just because of how it's phrased. It is a common misconception that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. This idea is silly, though. Pluto is very obviously a planet. It is, however, considered a minor planet, rather than a major one, because it does not match defining qualifications to be a major planet. The reason it was not originally classified as a minor planet is that technology simply wasn't sharp enough to give us a good look at it. Pluto remained something of an enigma, with its highly elliptical orbit and elusive features. We just didn't know how to classify Pluto. As technology has progressed, we have been able to identify that Pluto is just too small to be considered a major planet. It is instead considered to be a dwarf planet, a category not even recognized at the time of Pluto's discovery. If we were to consider Pluto a major planet, we would also have to consider Ceres, Eris, and Makemake major planets. To synopsize your answer, no, there is not enough evidence to support the idea that Pluto is not a planet. Mainstream science doesn't consider Pluto to not be a planet. Popular culture captured Pluto's changed classification and incorporated it into mythology.
If Pluto is a dwarf planet is it still considered a planet?
No. It is considered as a dwarf planet If you order a small Pepsi, you still get Pepsi, right? Pluto is a planet. It is a special class of planet; it is a dwarf planet. What it is not is a major planet.
Do all astronomers think that Pluto is a planet?
No. It was categorised as a dwarf planet in 2006, but not all astronomers agree with that decision.
The planet with the largest orbit?
Neptune is the planet that takes the longest time to orbit our sun, in terms of time taken and distance. Pluto and some other dwarf planets take longer, but these are not considered to be one of the eight major planets in our solar system.
When was Pluto considered a major planet?
Pluto was considered a major planet from 1930 to 2006.
Is Pluto an inferior planet?
Pluto is no longer considered a planet by major astronomers. It has been reclassified as a Kuiper Belt object- a sort of secondary asteroid belt among the outer planets, not the one between Jupiter and Mars. as such it is no longer a planet.
What planet and dwarf planet alternate as eighth position from the Sun?
Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun. Pluto's orbit is sometimes farther out, but Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
What planet disappeared?
No planet actually disappeared. A couple of years ago, there was agreement among most professional astronomers that Pluto should not be considered a major planet. It is no longer listed as a major planet of our solar system, but it is still there.
Do you say Pluto when you mention the major planets?
No, because Pluto is not considered a planet by the scientific community.
Is there enough evidence to support the idea that Pluto is not a planet?
That's a difficult question to answer, just because of how it's phrased. It is a common misconception that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. This idea is silly, though. Pluto is very obviously a planet. It is, however, considered a minor planet, rather than a major one, because it does not match defining qualifications to be a major planet. The reason it was not originally classified as a minor planet is that technology simply wasn't sharp enough to give us a good look at it. Pluto remained something of an enigma, with its highly elliptical orbit and elusive features. We just didn't know how to classify Pluto. As technology has progressed, we have been able to identify that Pluto is just too small to be considered a major planet. It is instead considered to be a dwarf planet, a category not even recognized at the time of Pluto's discovery. If we were to consider Pluto a major planet, we would also have to consider Ceres, Eris, and Makemake major planets. To synopsize your answer, no, there is not enough evidence to support the idea that Pluto is not a planet. Mainstream science doesn't consider Pluto to not be a planet. Popular culture captured Pluto's changed classification and incorporated it into mythology.
If Pluto is a dwarf planet is it still considered a planet?
No. It is considered as a dwarf planet If you order a small Pepsi, you still get Pepsi, right? Pluto is a planet. It is a special class of planet; it is a dwarf planet. What it is not is a major planet.
Do all astronomers think that Pluto is a planet?
No. It was categorised as a dwarf planet in 2006, but not all astronomers agree with that decision.
How long was Pluto considered one of the major planets?
From its discovery in 1930 until its degradation in 2006 Pluto was considered the solar system's ninth planet. Now it is considered a dwarf planet, and one of 5 official dwarf planets.
The planet with the largest orbit?
Neptune is the planet that takes the longest time to orbit our sun, in terms of time taken and distance. Pluto and some other dwarf planets take longer, but these are not considered to be one of the eight major planets in our solar system.
What planets do scientists not consider a major planet?
Pluto. It is considered a dwarf planet but very small compared to others in our solar system
Since Pluto is not a planet what is the smallest planet?
Mercury is the smallest of the 8 "major planets" with about 5.5% of the mass of Earth. It is smaller but more massive than the largest moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Pluto is now considered a "dwarf planet" along with the asteroid Ceres and three other very distant Kuiper Belt objects.
