Throughout history the definition of planet has changed greatly. The Greeks defined a planet as an object that was a “wanderer” in the sky. This was to say that a planet was an object that changes position relative to the background stars.[3] This included the 5 planets visible to the human eye (Earth was not considered a planet) and sometimes included the Sun and Moon. The definition of planet was changed and reworked until 2006, when the current official definition was created. This definition is as follows: “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 neighbourhood …show more content…
Pluto has a radius of 1184km while Mercury, the smallest current planet, has a radius of 2440km. This appears to be a huge difference, but they are quite close in size when it is taken into consideration that Jupiter has a radius of 64911km. [3] The fact that Mercury is considered to be a planet, but Pluto is considered to small is a result of the fact that planets are generally thought to be large objects, but no official size requirement has ever been defined. The fact is that any definition based on size will be arbitrary, so the problem exists of picking a cutoff. Tim DeBenedictis proposes a very reasonable solution to this problem. He proposes that we set the cutoff for planetary size at 1000km. [3] This is as arbitrary as any other number, but picking 1000km has benefits. Firstly, this fits well with the fact that we use base 10 in mathematics. This also makes the number of planets 10 with Pluto and Eris being added to the eight that we currently have. This results in a reasonable and concrete limit on the size of
Imagine working with radioactive materials in a secret camp, and the government not telling you that this material is harmful to your body. In the book Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters by Kate Brown, she takes her readers on a journey to expose what happened in the first two cities that started producing plutonium. Brown is an Associate Professor of History at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has won a handful of prizes, such as the American Historical Association’s George Louis Beer Prize for the Best Book in International European History, and was also a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow. Brown wrote this book by looking through hundreds of archives and interviews with people,
Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic understanding of its characteristics. Today Pluto remains the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft, yet an increasing amount of information is unfolding about this peculiar planet. The uniqueness of Pluto's orbit, rotational relationship with its satellite, spin axis, and light variations all give the planet a certain appeal.
Pluto Shits on the Universe is a strong and defiant poem that expresses the rejection of rules, rules placed upon others by those who cannot even begin to control them. After being discredited as a planet for her uncharted and chaotic movements, Pluto reacts. She expresses her freedom from the rules of documented science, from our sense of time, from our titles and competition. This poem has tones of defiance, confidence and independence created through its syntax, diction, and repetition.
“To Pluto” has two meanings. The first meaning connotates Pluto as the furthest discovered planet in our solar system (even though it was demoted in 2006 from “real planet” to “dwarf planet). As the furthest planet, Pluto symbolizes insatiable human ambition, especially towards space exploration and innately unobtainable things (space exploration, non-viviparous births, robot creation etc.). In maintaining this microcosmic view of human existence , earthly ambition is not necessarily precarious in itself; it becomes harmful when it bends natural Earth into submission, and makes it a tool to achieve innately impossible things. Thus, the first meaning of the title “To Pluto,” signifies the inherent overzealous ambitions of some contemporary
My group decided to leave out Pluto because right now it is considered a dwarf planet. Pluto, stars, and the asteroid belt were not necessary when we were creating the solar system because they would take the focus off of the eight key planets. We captured the most important aspects of the solar system and labeled each and every planet. The quantitative property of the solar system that my model shows is correctly scaled distances between planets. My group converted the astronomical units (AU) from the sun to each planet into centimeters (cm).
For a vast majority of people remember when Pluto was considered to be a planet, but that all changed in 2006. Even though some people still consider Pluto to be a planet, it is not. But those yearning for another planet in our solar system, have finally achieved their wish. With the nickname of Planet nine, the possible planet will take the place that was once was Pluto’s, as the ninth planet in our solar system. It has yet to be confirmed to be a planet.
In the second installment of The Heroes of Olympus, The Son of Neptune is a thrilling adventure written by Rick Riordan. The book begins where The Lost Hero left off. Percy, also in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, is wandering Southern California with no memory of where he came from or who he is except one name, Annabeth. Being chased by three gorgons, Percy stumbles upon, with the help of Hera/Juno, Camp Jupiter. In the Roman camp, Percy joins the 5th cohort, which are the misfits of the camp, and befriends Hazel the daughter of Pluto and Frank the son of Mars, who are the biggest misfits of all. Percy and his newfound friends are soon called on a quest. Their mission is to recover the missing standard of the entire legion. They board the Pax, a small rowboat which makes up the entire Roman navy, and embark on their journey.
Why not pick one-tenth the size of Jupiter as the size of the smallest planet, if the cutoff is going to be chosen arbitrarily? In that case, Mars, Mercury and Pluto would all have to be classified as asteroids. If the size-cutoff between asteroids and planets is going to be randomly chosen, the cutoff value should be agreed upon in open debate among interested scientists. Pluto is smaller than 7 moons in the solar system. Pluto is smaller than Earth's Moon, Jupiter's moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, Saturn's moon Titan, and Neptune's moon Triton.
Pluto only missed one requirement to be a classical planet and that requirement is Pluto can not clear the neighboorhood of its orbit. People on the opposing side of the agurement meantioned that if Earth were in Plutos spot Earth would not be able to meet that requiremeant either but the odds of Earth and Pluto switching are very unlikely and will never happen so why even bring it up. We dont need to worry about if they’re switched because the fact is they’re not and all we should worry about if where they are right now. Something else that stuck out to me was in’ Why Pluto is no longer a planet’ by Fraser Cain they state that the dwarf planet Eris is almost a bit bigger than Pluto. Eris is 1,600 miles across and Pluto falls a little bit behind being 1,500 miles across. This makes me think that shouldnt we consider Eris as a planet as well if it basically has the same structure as Pluto? I just dont understand why we would only have Pluto become a classical planet even there are many other objects just like it. Something that made me think about Pluto becoming a classial planet is in almost all of the given resources they all state that the defintion of
One of the primary points about Pluto’s existence is that scientists wondered if a little ball of ice should be thought-out to be a planet. It was determined that it should, mainly because since the gravity of the eighth planet, Neptune, was established because it was connected to
Pluto is located 7.5 billion kilometers from Earth and is only over 2,000 km in diameter. Pluto has been labeled both a planet and a dwarf planet over the years. As said by USA Today, “a planet is a celestial body that: is in orbit around the sun, is round or nearly round, and has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit, meaning it is not surrounded by objects of similar size and characteristics.” Pluto only follows two of the three rules of a planet. Pluto crosses over Neptune’s orbit and is near other dwarf planets like it. Even though it breaks one rule it was officially named a dwarf planet in “August 2006”, as stated by the Library of Congress. After this event Pluto still only has one correct classification. Pluto is a planet because
Our solar system has eight planets, their moons and satellites, and they are all orbiting the Sun. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but IAU changed the definition of planet and Pluto did not meet the standards so it is now a Dwarf planet.
Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.
The fourth planet from the sun is Mars. “Mars is named after a mythological figure-the Roman God of War. Due to Mars color it is also known as the red planet. Mercury is the tiniest planet then Mars. Scientist have found that mars has the largest mountain compared to the other planets. Furthermore, this mountain is named Olympus Mons, it is a shield volcano, it is 21 km high and 600 km in diameter. Scientist have discovered recent lava on the planet, therefore the volcano may still be active.
The earth might seem to be large enough with 6400 km radius and large circumstance of about 40,000 km, but in fact, earth is the only planet of the solar system and the only member of the myriads of systems in the universe, which presents a condition of air, water and land. Thus, the earth is a unique planet having a lot of water, an atmosphere and a surface temperature configuration that have supported life. So, “why is there life on Earth?” Unlike other planets, the Earth has a strong magnetic field of its own. It is the densest planet. As an illustration, if it weren’t for the Earth’s magnetic field, we would be subject to bursts of radiation on the ground that would be, at the very least, unhealthy. Additionally, the more serious, long term impact would be the erosion of the atmosphere. Without a doubt, the most important planet to us is the Earth that distinguishes itself from other heavenly