Did you know that Pluto was declassified as a planet in our solar system? Since it first discovery in the 1930′s, Pluto has sparked much conversation within the scientific community. Pluto is smaller then our moon and has an erratic orbit that crosses that of Neptune. While it may be dense and rocky like other planets in our solar system, it’s closeness to the gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have made scientist consider that it may have come from elsewhere in space and simply been caught in the gravitational fields of the larger planets. Others have conjectured that it may have been one of Neptune’s moon that was knocked out of it’s orbit.
Pluto has a moon of it’s own that is roughly half it’s size. Some astronomers would prefer to classify Pluto and it’s moon as a binary system of its own, caught in the gravitational pull of our system. This long running debate caused astronomers to pass resolutions defining what constitutes a planet. This resolution 5A defines a planet as such;
A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood [sic] around its orbit
Pluto only meets part of that criteria since it’s orbit crosses that of Neptune. Well I don’t care what the astronomers say. All of my school years, I was taught that Pluto was a planet and I will consider it to be one till the day I pass from this earth. I like Pluto and will not treat it like a step child of the solar system.
Pluto’s Orbit