It's okay, Pluto.

[reverend]

Don't worry about it Pluto, you'll always be a planet to me.

 

[Pilot7893]

It's ok Pluto, you're still a planet, just a tiny one

 

[Missioncmdr]

Just a dwarf planet. Yes, Pluto is in the same class as a former asteroid.

 

[RichWall]

If it's spherical, and does not orbit another planet, it's a planet.!!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. :beach:

 

[Brad]

Don't worry about it Pluto, you'll always be a planet to me.

That is awesome! Where do I get one? Here is another:

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/pluto/-/pv_design_details/pg_1/id_14162482/opt_/fpt_/c_666/

 

[Quick_Nick]

If it's spherical, and does not orbit another planet, it's a planet.!!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. :beach:

It's spherical?

 

[reverend]

It's spherical?

I guess that would depend on your definition of a sphere?

 

[RichWall]

It's spherical?

Yea, mostly round. Like pie are round.:lol:

 

[n0mad23]

So what do you all think about extending the family instead?

I say let's bring that trouble-maker Eris across the mantle as soon as possible.

 

[NukeET]

Isn't "oblate spheroid" the correct term?

 

[RAF92_Moser]

One of these days Pluto is gonna run into Jupiter and destroy it....

Jupiter...such a big bully.

 

[Scarecrow]

In my opinion at least, Pluto never was a planet, it's a kuiper belt object. Just the same way asteroids aren't planets, they are asteroid belt objects. It's high time that astronomers admitted that perhaps they had gotten too excited about that "ninth planet" out there back in 1930.

And the people whining about the ruined mnemonics can stop too:
My very energetic mother just spanked us now

 

[tblaxland]

If it's spherical, and does not orbit another planet, it's a planet.!!

Well, Pluto and Charon orbit each other, given that their barycentre lies somewhere in the space between them. Double dwarf planet IMHO.

It is all semantics anyway. They are what they are.

 

[RichWall]

Well, Pluto and Charon orbit each other, given that their barycentre lies somewhere in the space between them. Double dwarf planet IMHO.

It is all semantics anyway. They are what they are.

Actually, this is a very good discription.

Pluto is an interesting topic to have some fun with.

 

[TSPenguin]

Let's just make a contest. All the planetoids have to fight against each other and the winner will become a planet!

 

[simonpro]

The problem as I see it is that we like putting definate boundaries on things.
Stuff has to be either X or Y, black or white.

The real world, however, doesn't like things like that. It operates with shades of gray. We can all agree that Jupiter is a planet, so why can't Pluto just be a slightly less planetlike planet?
Just get a scale going, Jupiter at one end of the planet scale and then tiny little asteroids at the other end.

 

[agentgonzo]

In my opinion at least, Pluto never was a planet, it's a kuiper belt object.

The problem as I see it is that we like putting definate boundaries on things.
Stuff has to be either X or Y, black or white.

The real world, however, doesn't like things like that. It operates with shades of gray. We can all agree that Jupiter is a planet, so why can't Pluto just be a slightly less planetlike planet?

At the time that pluto was discovered, we did not know about the Kuiper belt and TNOs. Pluto was the *only* thing that was out beyond the orbit of Neptune. So at that stage, it was pretty black and white that it was a planet. As we discovered more things out there that were like Pluto, we needed to rethink this.

 

[Pilot7893]

There is a saying. "everything that crosses orbits will eventually collide". Imagine Pluto crashing into NeptuneBy-by Pluto

 

[Scarecrow]

At the time that pluto was discovered, we did not know about the Kuiper belt and TNOs. Pluto was the *only* thing that was out beyond the orbit of Neptune. So at that stage, it was pretty black and white that it was a planet. As we discovered more things out there that were like Pluto, we needed to rethink this.

Just because we thought that the Earth was the center of the universe, did that make it true? No. I'm just saying that while we didn't know about the Kuiper belt when Pluto was discovered, we have known for about 15 years now, and it's high time we revisited the old notion of Pluto's planetary status. Fortunately, we've gone ahead and done that.

 

[Quick_Nick]

There is a saying. "everything that crosses orbits will eventually collide". Imagine Pluto crashing into NeptuneBy-by Pluto

:lol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto#Neptune-avoiding_orbit