Is it true Pluto is demoted and it is no longer a planet .?

P.U.M.A.

"i think it is just a attemp to make a name for a scientist or .. make some quick cash so he announced that pluto is not a planet"

That's asinine. Do you know the name of the scientists responsible for changing the classification? No? Me either. So obviously it wasn't to 'make a name'.

And how exactly do you think they were going to make money off a reclassification?

I have never and will never understand why anyone cares the tiniest bit if Pluto is classed as a planet or not. It's a friggin' *classification*, it has *no bearing whatsoever* on the physical status of the object. Classifications are pure mental constructs, nothing more. If anyone is upset because they think Pluto (an inanimate object to begin with) has been dishonored because it's classed in a new category, they are philosophically naive to say the least.

To answer your question, Pluto is no longer classed as a planet. If you consider that a demotion, then I guess that's something you'll have to work out. Astronomers are simply classifying it in the most useful way. I guarantee you that Pluto does not care one bit.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - Shakespeare.

yes pluto is no longer a planet because the dwarf planet cannot avoid getting hit by comets and asteroids and also does not circle the sun like the rest of the planets in our solar system and is not has big has the rest of the planets its a good thing it was demoted has there is no need to look at that thing has it is just a big ice ball that can never support life unless you have alot of gas pipe lines lol even then it would be hard to live there if its even possible hope this helps i watch nasa tv alot

Pluto is officially a dwarf planet. Dwarf Planet is NOT a subset of planet just as Minor Planets (Asteroids) are not a subset of planet and the IAU made this very clear in their announcement back in 2006. Read the full and official announcement on the IAU web site.

Pluto is NOT a terrestial planet. The Solar system only has 4 terrestial planets (Mercury through Mars).

Pluto is also referred to as an Ice Dwarf since, like the other TNO's (Trans Neptunian objects) it's primary constituant is/are Ices (various sorts) mixed with some dust. For those who doubt this - read some recent peer reviewed scientific papers.

Pluto is still a planet.

The word "planet" is part of Pluto's official IAU description. Even Dr. Niel Tyson thinks Pluto is still a planet, even if it is a dwarf planet. Pluto has cleared its orbit well enough that nothing has impacted with it with sufficient force to to change its orbit from its predicted orbit in the nearly 79 years since it was discovered by Tombaugh in June, 1930, so that particular argument has no evidence at all to support it.

I can't believe the total lack of objective, logical thinking of all the people claiming that Pluto is no longer a planet, when the word planet is still part of its description. Pluto is not a comet, as some one tried to insist yesterday. Pluto never gets close enough to the sun for the solar wind to create a gas/particle tail and/or an ion tail.

Edit: Pluto is a spherical terrestrial outer planet of ROCK and ice. The rock probably is basaltic in chemical composition. Magma can have a high water composition.

I'm not an idiot.

Why is Pluto still a planet at this site?:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Solar/action?sys=-...

I am so tempted to say something that I really would like to say, but no, some one's feelings will be hurt.

More Edit: ONLY 4% of the International Astronomical Union voted to reclassify Pluto, NONE of them were planetary scientists. You think science is devoid of political struggles? WRONG.

"...Today in Astronomy: March 13: Percival Lowell The controversial reclassification of Pluto was done by only four percent of the IAU, most of whom are not planetary scientists, and was immediately ...

todayinastronomy.blogspot.com/2009/03/march-13-percival-lowell.html - 104k - Cached - Similar pages"

My dear Banjaran...

YES...you are correct...and the numerous exquisite responses have explained it to you (much better than I could) since I don't have a profound knowledge about Astronomy as the previous experts...-smile-

But...Honey...whether <PLUTO> is considered a "Dwarf-planet" -or- a "Hutzelfutzel"-Planet...it's still in our Solar-system....even though...as F A R as he's "away from us"...he does NOT have any huge influence on us, since it takes him 212 years to travel "once around the sun"...as compared to out 365 days....-smile-

Demoted...-or- not...Pluto is still "out there" so let's leave "him" at peace...-smile- Send you my best greetings and all my love...****

Dear Banjaran,

Heartiest Welcome to the new world in Y/A!

I am surprised to see you here. Now you will be exposed to great wonders of the Universe.

To answer this question I will have to tell you the definition for planet.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81...

In our solar system, Sun is the center and all planets are orbiting the Sun. the orbits all planets put together remains in almost one plane. Almost in the middle there is an asteroid belt. Again at the outer Kuiper belt. Only particle of size varying from one mile diameter to as big as mountain sizes are spread in plenty across these belts. These things can be viewed in the links I have provided above.

Now,

The debate came to a head in 2006 with an IAU resolution that created an official definition for the term "planet". According to this resolution, there are three main conditions for an object to be considered a 'planet':

1.The object must be in orbit around the Sun.

2.The object must be massive enough to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. More specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape of hydrostatic equilibrium.

3.It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.

Pluto fails to meet the third condition, since its mass was only 0.07 times that of the mass of the other objects in its orbit (Earth's mass, by contrast, is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its own orbit). The IAU further resolved that Pluto be classified in the simultaneously created dwarf planet category, and that it act as the prototype for the plutoid category of trans-Neptunian objects, in which it would be separately, but concurrently, classified.

The third condition above is that the planet cleared the neighborhood. Clearing the neighborhood is possible by a planet only when it is massive enough in comparison with the total objects in the orbit.

Earth is a planet. Its orbit is clean, and it was due to the fact that Our Mother Earth is 17 lakh times heavier than the remaining objects in the earth’s orbit.

Pluto’s position you can see in the links above. It is placed amidst the Kuiper belt. Pluto is 15 times lighter than the remaining mass in its orbit and so the orbit is not clear. In these circumstances only Pluto lost its recognition as a planet. More over Pluto’s orbit is about 17 degrees tilting from the plane of orbits of rest of the planets.

Following current date 9/5/09 article in National geography is copied and pasted below for your reference.

What Is a Planet Today?

According to the new definition, a full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.

Pluto has been demoted because it does not dominate its neighborhood. Charon, its large "moon," is only about half the size of Pluto, while all the true planets are far larger than their moons.

In addition, bodies that dominate their neighborhoods, "sweep up" asteroids, comets, and other debris, clearing a path along their orbits.

By contrast, Pluto's orbit is somewhat untidy.

The new definition also establishes a third class of objects that orbit the sun—"solar system bodies," which would apply to many asteroids, comets, and moons.

The new definition of "planet" retains the sense that a true planet is something special.

"It's going to be hard to find a new planet," Brown said. "You'd have to find something the size of Mars. Finding a new planet will really mean something." ……………………….. click the link below for more details.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/06...

oklatonola

Regarding the oklatonola views in the answer posted above, I welcome the debate. But to my question earlier I have posted some additional details for the answer given by oklatonola. But I could not get further reply for my additional details for the question in the link below.(light)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ar...

Yes. It was demoted to a dwarf planet in Aug. 2006 by the International Astronomical Union. It did not meet the definition of a planet:

>is in orbit around the Sun,

>has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and

>has "cleared the neighbourhood" around its orbit.

I had wanted to tell you long back that Pluto is no longer considered as a planet when you selected someone's answer as the best. The answerer's YA id was Pluto and he wanted to go there and you selected his answer as the best with the remark that you too would like to accompany him with your hubby and kids. The question was about the planet and answerer had referred to Pluto as the planet. I wanted to write to you that Pluto is not a planet, but forgot to do so. Anyway, now you know it.

Correct. Pluto no longer qualifies as a full-blown planet.

Yes Its not a planet