On Thursday next week (August 24), we would have 12 planets in the Solar System and many more objects could be qualified as planets in the universe, if astronomers agree on the new definition of planet.
International Astronomical Union (IAU) has spent two years to review the definition of a planet. According to the new proposal, the planet must:
- Be orbiting a star, but must not itself be a star, and
- Have a nearly spherical shape, resulted by its own gravitational pull.
The rigid mass and diameter requirement are transformed into the “roundness” criteria.
Apart from Pluto, three more objects have passed these requirements: Charon, UB313 nicknamed Xena and Ceres, between Mars and Jupiter.
A new term ”plutons” would also be coined. These are planets beyond Neptune, which take more than 200 years to orbit the Sun.
Textbooks would need to be re-written that ”Our Solar System has orbiting the sun in order of: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and plutons Pluto, Charon and UB313.”
Charon is today categorized as a moon to Pluto, but recenly scientists found that Pluto and Charon are orbiting each other, being the first pair of twin planets in the Milky Way.
UB313 (Xena) is discovered last year and has at least 2,400 km in diameter, a bit larger than Pluto. It is one of the objects in the Kuiper belt in the outer region of the Solar System.
Scientists worried if the new definition would lower the status of planet in public’s eyes. The heated debate has started in the astronomy meeting in Prague. On August 24, scientists will vote and decide the fate of Pluto and the picture of our children’s astronomy books.
External Link
> Planet Definition – International Astronomical Union (IAU)
Laszlo-Attila Horvath said
Dear Sirs,
The Pluto and Charon sincron orbiting movement give us some indirect possibilities of intepretations (other actual accepted: tidal force). We can reason out these “cosmic bodies” structure; their generation. Now I wil refer only their generation.
Their movement shows that Pluto and Ceres was a single cosmic body (we can give name “Plutceres” This body was separated to Pluto end Ceres, because have not enough cohession force like two spacecraftes. They are rolling away, bot remaining their initial movement (showing not separation) caused by their the first inertial movement. The distance between Pluto and Ceres are increasing continously. The causes “is against to actual Theory of Orine our System”. I have an other Hypothesis under development.
The AU decision was right when the Pluto was got out from planets because it structure are different from “planets”.
Yours sincerely,
László-Attila Horváth
Laszlo-Attila Horvath said
Excuse me, I would like to correct the before made interpretation:
1″…the Pluto and Charon…”
2″…actual Theory of Our Solar System Creatiion”
donna said
did pluto ever explode! because i’am doing a solar system and her teacher told her that it exploded and i want to know if that was true
Thank
You
sincerly Donna
donna said
waz up ppl wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzz uuuuuuuuuuuuupppppppppppp pppppppppplllllllllll bitches
rizza logana said
i just want to know how did you know that the pluto explode and how did the pluto explode….
that’s all thanks….