Why Pluto is not a planet.
Text of the resolutions approved Thursday by the International Astronomical Union, which define planets and downgrade Pluto:
Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the designation “planets.” The word “planet” originally described “wanderers” that were known only as moving lights in the sky. Recent discoveries lead us to create a new definition, which we can make using currently available scientific information.The IAU therefore resolves that “planets” and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1) 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 around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf 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,
(c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies.”
The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The IAU further resolves:
Pluto is a “dwarf planet” by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.
From an article By William J. Kole
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:58 a.m. August 24, 2006
AP Science Writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to the story.
Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the designation “planets.” The word “planet” originally described “wanderers” that were known only as moving lights in the sky. Recent discoveries lead us to create a new definition, which we can make using currently available scientific information.The IAU therefore resolves that “planets” and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1) 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 around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf 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,
(c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies.”
The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The IAU further resolves:
Pluto is a “dwarf planet” by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.
From an article By William J. Kole
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:58 a.m. August 24, 2006
AP Science Writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to the story.
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