Pluto is not a planet.

[bjarvis]

There, I've said it. I'm still dealing with the emotional aftermath of a solar system with only 8 planets, but I can now say it in public.

At best, it's a sizable Kuiper belt object, and an interesting one at that, but Pluto is not a planet.

Comments

[ubel-josh.livejournal.com]

Well of COURSE it's not a planet it's a DOG isn't it?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Um, sure, let's go with that...

[westwind-mv.livejournal.com]

Hey, if it can perturb Neptune's orbit then it qualifies to be a planet. Wasn't the reason Clyde Tombaugh was looking around Delta Geminorum in the first place because of calculations based on that perturbation?

Besides, the more the merrier! We just need a better name for the new planet ("2003 UB 313" just doesn't roll off the tongue).

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It was looking for something that perturbed Neptune but later calculations found that Pluto wasn't big enough to fit the bill; it just happened to be in the general area when Clyde was searching.

While I'm not absolutely sure, I believe the perturbations in Neptune's orbit were later found to be an error.

[ebearboston.livejournal.com]

Wait, what, hunh?

I'm already confused this morning!!!

[guiser1.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Pluto the guy who kept trying to beat up Popeye and steal Olive Oyl? He was a bastard, and I'm glad he's now just a sizable Kuiper belt object.

The fuck.

[discord35.livejournal.com]

You're thinking of Bluto. :=)

[guiser1.livejournal.com]

I know, I know... I'm a kidder.

And you're cute!

[discord35.livejournal.com]

Back at ya!

[madknits.livejournal.com]

*best southern accent*
Pluto will always be a planet in my heart.
*/southern accent*

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Pluto will always be a cold & lifeless rock, like my ex's heart. :-^

[madknits.livejournal.com]

But you're not bitter.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Only on demand. :-)

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

Ah, but what about Chiron??
The mystery of the Dark Planet(oid) lives!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Pluto has its moon, Charon, discovered in 1978. It also has two smaller ones found last year. Still, having gravitationally-bound satellites isn't enough to make it a planet... there are asteroids which would fit that bill. In all, Pluto just looks more like a member of the Kuiper belt family than it does a member of the eight inner planets.

The astronomical association has yet to rule one way or another but I'm coming to terms with the probability that Pluto will some day be officially downgraded like GM junk bonds.

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

say it ain't so~

[(Anonymous)]

come to think of it, they DID announce the discovery of a 10th planet last year...

[furmuslbulk.livejournal.com]

come to think of it, they DID announce the discovery of a 10th planet last year...

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I think it was informally named Xena (yup, after the warrior princess).
It's the discovery which made the is-it-or-isn't-it-a-planet debate so timely: Xena is larger than Pluto but is definitely in KB space, so either we have to expand our informal definition of planets to include all KBOs, or we downgrade Pluto from planet to large, inner KBO.

There's going to be a lot more discoveries like Xena, Sedna & Quaor in the next few years so we'll either have a much larger sample space on which to base a decision, or we'll have a lot more rewriting of our astronomy texts.

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

I'm down with that.