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Planet, Dwarf Planet, or Neither?

I do not have a position on this issue. Reasonable arguments can be made on both sides.

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50 views

Planet, Dwarf Planet, or Neither?

I do not have a position on this issue. Reasonable arguments can be made on both sides.

Uploaded by

K
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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Planet, Dwarf Planet, or neither?

 Discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh


 Originally classified as the ninth planet
 Tends to be an outlier- rocky planet but far
from the sun, unusual composition
 Very small in comparison, only 5% of the
mass of Mercury
 Eccentric, highly inclined orbit that crosses
Neptune’s path
 Five known moons, has a thin atmosphere
 Physical characteristics
 SMA of~40 AU
 e = 0.25
 Orbital period of ~248 years
 Inclination of 17°
 Radius of ~1200 km, about 0.18 Re
 Mass of ~0.2% of Earth
 Atmospheric pressure of 0.3 Pa
 Trans-Neptunian Objects are small bodies
that lie outside the orbit of Neptune.
 Kuiper Belt Objects are TNOs that are in the
Kuiper Belt region of the Solar System.
 Notable ones include Pluto, Eris, Sedna, and
many more.
 The discovery of Eris by Mike Brown in 2005
provided a catalyst for the IAU to formally
define what makes a planet.
 Discovered in 2005,
orbits ~3 times
farther than Pluto
 Discovered to be
larger and more
massive than Pluto-
hence the initial
description as the
“10th planet”
 Classified as a dwarf
planet in 2006
 Historically: ill defined- no real definition of a
planet.
 2006 IAU ruling:
 The body must directly orbit the Sun, not another
object.
 The body must be in hydrostatic equilibrium.
 The body must have “cleared its neighborhood”.
 As defined by the IAU, a dwarf planet fulfills
only the first two conditions for planethood.
 As of 2014 the IAU has only officially
recognized 5 dwarf planets, but there are
dozens of candidates that may fit the criteria.
 Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, Haumea
 Dwarf planets that lie outside the orbit of
Neptune are also called “plutoids”.
Ceres
 No
 Some feel that the backlash is due to
sentimentality
 We’ve demoted or reclassified planets before
 We don’t know enough yet about Pluto
 Consistency and applying criteria to others- we’d
have dozens of planets
 Scientific method
 Yes
 We don’t know enough yet to demote it
 Pluto may have characteristics that separate it
from other dwarf planets
 A body’s location in the solar system should not
matter, only the characteristics of the body itself
 Discovery of more moons around Pluto
 New dwarf planet candidates being
discovered constantly
 Discovery of other characteristics that
straddle definitions
 New Horizons and Dawn in 2015- New
Horizons flying by Pluto, and Dawn going
into orbit around Ceres
 Space probe
launched in 2006, will
fly by Pluto in July
2015
 Will send back data
over the next several
months afterwards
 Hopefully will provide
information about
Pluto that can
cement its place in
the Solar System
 "IAU 2006 General Assembly: Resolutions 5
and 6". IAU. August 24, 2006.
 Gorwyn, Adam; Alan Stern: ‘A Chihuahua is
still a dog, and Pluto is still a planet’, EarthSky
interview, 2010 February 18
 JPL Solar System Dynamics. 2014.Web.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/.
 Images courtesy of Wikipedia
 What is your position on the issue? Should
Pluto be a planet?
 Do you believe other dwarf planets should
also be considered planets?
 Some have suggested that large moons, such
as Ganymede or Titan, should also be
considered planets. Do you agree?

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