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Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet Anymore?

Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet Anymore?. Do they have something against Yellow Dogs or something?. Maybe he’s just a little too friendly?. Fault of Mike Brown. One of most important planetary astronomers Published book: How I Killed Pluto, and Why it Had it Coming .

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Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet Anymore?

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  1. Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet Anymore?

  2. Do they have something against Yellow Dogs or something? • Maybe he’s just a little too friendly?

  3. Fault of Mike Brown • One of most important planetary astronomers • Published book: How I Killed Pluto, and Why it Had it Coming. • Things came to a head at International Astronomical Union Meeting (IAU) in 2006 • Meeting had heated arguments and shouting matches • His young daughter didn’t like it either

  4. Why was this such a big Deal? • This is where you guys try to answer (not all at once, please!)

  5. We always knew something wasn’t quite right with Pluto. . . • Very small, (two thirds the size of Mercury) • Very far out • Orbit is much more elliptical • And not in the plane of the eight other planets • Not always the ninth planet – it was inside the orbit of Neptune for about 20 years (1979 to 1999)

  6. Lots of objects far out, comparable to Pluto

  7. And their orbits are different:

  8. If Pluto was going to be a planet, it was going to have a lot of company • Asteroid Ceres • Pluto’s own moon Charon • Eris (formerly Xena), Greek God of Discord, was the final straw, because it was actually bigger than Pluto • Would have meant between 3 and 20 new planets, possibly up to 200 later.

  9. How was our solar system formed?

  10. So What’s a Planet? • In 2006, astronomers voted on a planet’s definition: • Is in orbit around the Sun • Has enough mass so that it assumes a nearly round shape • Has cleared its orbit (of space objects)

  11. So What’s Pluto? Dwarf Planet: • Is in orbit around the Sun • Has enough mass so that it assumes a nearly round shape • Has NOT cleared its orbit (of space objects) • Is not a satellite

  12. What is The Kuiper Belt? Icy bodies in orbit past Neptune

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