pluto is such a loser - Page 3

On August 24 2006 08:25 Wasabi wrote:
What harm does it do to include Pluto in the solar system?

"the more the merrier"

On August 24 2006 10:44 Bill307 wrote:
I don't think Pluto belongs with the other planets.

For one thing, the other 8 planets all orbit in roughly the same plane (the ecliptic). But Pluto is way off the ecliptic plane. Also, its orbital eccentricity is a lot higher than any of the 8 planets, which have roughly-circular orbits. As a result, Pluto is sometimes closer to the Sun than Neptune.

Furthermore, the 8 inner planets dominate their respective orbits: none of the nearby asteroids or comets even come close to their massive sizes. But Pluto -- which doesn't even have a "normal" orbit -- doesn't dominate its region to nearly the same degree. There are other objects of comparable sizes in similar orbits. The most obvious one is its "moon" Charon, which is so massive compared to Pluto that the two bodies mututally-orbit a point (the barycentre) in between them. In contrast, our Moon and the Earth mututally-orbit a point within the Earth, and the same goes for all other planets and their moons.

As I see it, Pluto is fundamentally different from the other 8 planets. And, apart from its slightly-larger size, it is not fundamentally different from any other comets in the Kuiper Belt. To me, it's pretty obvious that Pluto just doesn't belong with the others. So screw tradition: it's time to undo one of our long-lasting mistakes.

On August 24 2006 12:04 Bill307 wrote:
Oh yeah, I forgot to add: "Dwarf Planet" my ass (_._) : it's just a frigging comet!

Pluto:

On August 24 2006 12:35 Bill307 wrote:
So suddenly no one is allowed to have any opinions that differ from the IAU?

On August 24 2006 14:33 Victor wrote:
Donno why but I feel cheated, cause we pay the scientists to do this stuff -_-;;

On August 24 2006 13:35 micronesia wrote:


We are talking about whether or not Pluto is a planet. "planet" being an english word and scientific term.

Unless you feel someone other than the IAU is much more qualified to determine the primary denotation of the word planet, then you shouldn't have a reason to feel that I am infringing on bill307's right to an opinion.

On August 24 2006 15:14 Teroru wrote:


so then our solar system has 11 planets? Our 9 plus Ceres and 2003UB313 (Xena)?