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It is now widely accepted that Pluto should not be classified as a planet, because more bodies more massive than it were discovered beyond its orbit. Also, it seems that it has characteristics similar to other objects in the Kuiper belt.

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15y ago
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13y ago

Some believe that Pluto is too small and that its orbit is too tilted to be a planet.

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Actually, neither its size nor the angle of its orbit to the equatorial plane is a problem. One part of the current definition of planet is that a body must have cleared its orbital neighborhood of debris. Pluto spends most of its extremely long year [248 earth years] among the countless other objects in the Kuyper Belt, and therefore it has NOT cleaned up its orbital neighborhood. However, Pluto is still the wonderful and interesting object it has always been. It is a Kuyper Object, and a dwarf planet.

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11y ago

The notion of "planet" has ceased to be a meaningful theoretical concept.

Since antiquity, it was assumed that there were a small number of "planets", and astronomical theories reflected this. For example, Kepler assigned great significance to the fact that there were five planets and five platonic solids.

More recently, we learned what the planets were, and that there were probably thousands of them. It made no theoretical sense to treat them all as one kind of thing, or to teach children to learn some arbitrary subset of them.

Today we can categorize objects in the solar system according to their location and origin. In this scheme, the solar system consists of

1) The Sun

2) Giant Planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)

3) Terrestrial Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)

4) Minor Planets (Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Asteroids, Meteors, Kuiper-belt objects)

5) Comets

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7y ago

Astronomers ALWAYS don't call Pluto a planet because Pluto is not a planet.

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13y ago

that Pluto should disapper cause

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Q: Why do astronomers sometimes not call Pluto a planet?
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When was Pluto disscovered not a planet?

It was not so much a discovery that Pluto wasn't a planet, so much as a general concensus that it shouldn't be called a planet anymore. Over the past decade, astronomers have discovered several bodies beyond the orbit of Pluto that are in fact larger (for example, Eris.) They realized that there were probably many more they hadn't discovered yet and that the term planet was impractical for Pluto since it was so small and there were so many similar sized objects orbiting the Solar System. Eris was probably the final blow to Pluto's status. It is larger than Pluto and for a long time astronomers called it the solar system's "tenth planet''. In the face of this discovery and the fact that many other similarly sized objects had been found, the International Astronomical Union decided to formally define the word "planet" for the first time in 2006 and in the process effectively demoted Pluto.


What is the planet farther away from the sun?

its unusual but it is planet X. you may think im wrong but me is 98% sure *** All of them. Since Pluto follows an irregular orbit an a different axis than the other planets, it's relative distance to the obits of other planets is always in flux. If you meant to ask which planet is sometimes farther from the Sun than Pluto, the answer is Neptune.


What is Pluto called now?

It is still known as Pluto, even though it was downgraded to a dwarf planet and given a number. So really we should call it 134340Pluto.


Why is Pluto a planet?

Pluto used to be classified as the ninth planet in our solar system, but its designation was changed to a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union. This decision was made based on new criteria that define a planet, which Pluto did not meet.


What is Pluto's nickname?

Pluto's nickname is "the Dwarf Planet" due to its reclassification from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

Related questions

Why do astronomers consider Pluto a dwarf planet?

Pluto is too small to be an actual planet and is, therefore, a dwarf planet. Astronomers cannot call every rock orbiting a star a planet, and so have removed Pluto's title as a planet.


When was Pluto disscovered not a planet?

It was not so much a discovery that Pluto wasn't a planet, so much as a general concensus that it shouldn't be called a planet anymore. Over the past decade, astronomers have discovered several bodies beyond the orbit of Pluto that are in fact larger (for example, Eris.) They realized that there were probably many more they hadn't discovered yet and that the term planet was impractical for Pluto since it was so small and there were so many similar sized objects orbiting the Solar System. Eris was probably the final blow to Pluto's status. It is larger than Pluto and for a long time astronomers called it the solar system's "tenth planet''. In the face of this discovery and the fact that many other similarly sized objects had been found, the International Astronomical Union decided to formally define the word "planet" for the first time in 2006 and in the process effectively demoted Pluto.


Why do they call Pluto the double planet?

They call Pluto the double planet because rather than Charon simply orbiting Pluto, the two objects revolve around their common center of mass, which lies outside of Pluto.


Why is Pluto no longer a planet?

because Pluto is like an asteroid it is so tiny


What do astronomers call Saturn?

"Saturn" of course, but also they call it a "gas giant planet".


What is the planet farther away from the sun?

its unusual but it is planet X. you may think im wrong but me is 98% sure *** All of them. Since Pluto follows an irregular orbit an a different axis than the other planets, it's relative distance to the obits of other planets is always in flux. If you meant to ask which planet is sometimes farther from the Sun than Pluto, the answer is Neptune.


What is Pluto called now?

It is still known as Pluto, even though it was downgraded to a dwarf planet and given a number. So really we should call it 134340Pluto.


Why did Walt Disney call Mickey Mouses dog Pluto?

Pluto was named after the planet, Pluto, which had been discovered by the time his character was created.


Why is Pluto a planet?

Pluto used to be classified as the ninth planet in our solar system, but its designation was changed to a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union. This decision was made based on new criteria that define a planet, which Pluto did not meet.


Which planet in your solar system may not be a true planet?

the planet you are looking for is Pluto it is about the same size as its moon and now scietist no longer call it a planet


What is Pluto's nickname?

Pluto's nickname is "the Dwarf Planet" due to its reclassification from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.


Is it racsist to call Pluto a dwarf planet?

No, ethnic background doesn't really come into it.