• Question: Why has Pluto been dubbed a dwarf planet?

    Asked by 773hrmc35 to Craig, Laura, Saffron on 25 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Craig Doig

      Craig Doig answered on 25 Jun 2015:

      Lots of people are arguing about if it is a planet or not so they might have agreed to call it a dwarf planet as a why of settling the argument for now!

    • Photo: Laura Wales

      Laura Wales answered on 25 Jun 2015:

      In 2006, the definition of a planet was revised. According to NASA, a planet is a celestial body that:
      – Is in orbit around a star, but is not itself a satellite
      – Has sufficient mass so it is nearly spherical in shape
      – Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

      A dwarf planet is defined as a celetial body that:
      – Is in orbit around a star, but is not itself a satellite
      – Has sufficient mass so it is NEARLY spherical in shape
      – Has NOT cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

      The main difference between a planet and a dwarf planet is the area surrounding it. A dwarf planet has not cleared the area around its orbit, while a planet has. Because of this, pluto is now classed as a dwarf planet.

Comments

  • Photo: Ryan

    Ryan commented on :

    Not my zone but it showed on the side

    the classification of a planet changed due to that we’ve found other planet like bodies in our solar system.

    One of the requirements is now that it’s cleared it’s local field of debris, which pluto has not. So it got declassified to a dwarf planet because it fit the other prerequisites! There are a few other dwarf planets in our solar system Ceres, makemake, Eris, Haumea. All are smaller than pluto with the exception of Eris!