The Planet Pluto - What Makes This a Suspicious Planet?

A lot of people children and adults alike, have always been fascinated with Pluto. Even if it is trillions of miles away, many wondered what life would be if people lived in that distant planet. My science teachers all described Pluto as the ninth planet of the solar system. Most people take this fact for granted and went about their business. Astronomers themselves were mystified by Pluto, but since space technologically was not yet advanced in that time, they accepted it as part of the solar system. However, with the advent of powerful new ground and space-based observatories decades later, the winds of change has descended in the Astronomy community in which more than four hundred twenty-four astronomers voted to decide if Pluto is part of the family of planets or a misfit. The vote was controversial because less than five percent of the worlds astronomers were represented in the International Astronomical Union in Prague. Majority of them voted to demote Pluto as a planet. According to them, there were discoveries that proved that Pluto was actually a dwarf planet. Aside from the fact that it was too distant to be reached by thorough observation, Pluto could not be classified as a terrestrial planet like Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth or as a gas giant like Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn. Moreover, it is made of ice and rock and there were recent discoveries of other moons like Eris, which is made of the same properties like Pluto. It is even more massive than Pluto that astronomers began to doubt on the concept on what defines the nine planets of the solar system, so they decided to make certain rules on what is a planet. What doomed Pluto was that majority of astronomers noted that it has low massive properties like Ceres and Eris. In the end, they voted on a highly contentious decision by classifying Pluto (and Eris) as dwarf planets. For these reasons, Pluto was relegated to a place in the Universe called "Kuiper Belt." From being the smallest planet, it is now the second largest belt object of that place. Many astronomers criticized the decision and are planning to appeal, but those

who voted for Pluto to be downgraded are unperturbed with their decision. For them, their suspicions are justified because no space exploration was conducted because of it great distance. Moreover, it has an eccentric orbit that was out of line with the eight other planets. Although Pluto can orbit around the sun and has enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape, astronomers came up with the argument that planets must be the dominant gravitational body in their orbit. They must also interact, consume and sling smaller objects away with their gravity which was not the case with Pluto. Notwithstanding it suspicious nature or the assessment of astronomers, Pluto is still a fascinating planet to many people. Its remoteness and beauty is still a sight to behold and it would not matter why Pluto was demoted. Who knows? Maybe one day, astronomers may come up with more discoveries and bring back Pluto as part of our solar system. For now, it will be lumped with other moons in a desolate place like the Kuiper belt. Hopefully, significant discoveries about Pluto being a planet may change minds of those who attended the International Astronomical Union in the future.

The Reasons Why Pluto Was Demoted

After years of hot debate, the unthinkable has happened. Pluto is no longer a planet, which means there are only eight official planets in the solar system. Majority of the 424 astronomers who attended the International Astronomical Union, or roughly five percent of the worlds astronomers voted to downgrade Pluto as a dwarf planet. The controversial decision was arrived at when the Union established three categories. First, planets need to orbit around the sun. Second, planets need enough gravity to pull themselves into spherical shapes. Lastly, they need to become the dominant gravitational bodies in their own orbits in the solar system. Pluto was able to fit into the first two categories, but since it was in the recently discovered Kuiper Belt wherein it is far smaller than objects like Eris (discovered in 2005 by Mike Brown), the cards began to fall. Since there were two or three objects that were more massive than Pluto and were made of the same ice/rock mixture, it cast doubts whether Pluto was the dominant body. To settle the problem astronomers decided to make a definition of a planet in August 14 to 25, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic. In the end after much debate, Pluto was demoted as a dwarf planet, which was the new

classification given by astronomers. By virtue of the third ruling, most science textbooks have to be revised and remove Pluto as a planet. Initially, there were proposals on how to preserve Pluto as a planet, but these were roundly criticized. Even when the debates ended, the third ruling was deemed as flawed because Jupiter has tens of thousands of asteroids that were not cleared yet, same as Earth. It may take years for most people to accept this ruling, but the controversy rages on. Moreover, Mars and Neptune have asteroids as their neighbors. Another glaring point is that out of ten-thousand astronomers all over the world, only fourhundred-twenty four voted. A group of dissenting astronomers have now passed a petition in order to overturn the Unions vote. The debates began in the late1990s on whether to demote Pluto or not. Mike Browns discovery of the Kuiber belt fueled more discussions about Pluto, which led to the International Astronomical Union vote in those fateful days in August. For some people, like Mike Brown, Plutos demotion may not sit well with many people nor make them excited. Nevertheless, it would make him look forward into educating people why Pluto is not a planet. It is just a beginning of his journey. While people on Earth are still discussing this contentious issue, Pluto will wander in its newly classified, desolate and dark world. It would not be lonely though because Charon is at its side. Even if there are reasons for its demotion as a dwarf planet, it cannot be denied that Pluto will always be a mysterious planet. The beauty of this celestial body is that it is eccentric with its axis, has a bigger moon that is facing it, which makes both look like a dumbbell and knocks on the door of Neptune once every twenty years. Until a space probe reaches that place, Pluto will remain a beautiful speck in the sky. Stargazers with enough luck to locate it and scientists who are using the Hubble telescope will marvel at its haunting beauty.