[CerebralEcstasy]

I've been listening to many different opinions about this particular subject and thought to ask what my fellow hypographians thought about it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sto...2312963&page=1

What say you?

[Mercedes Benzene]

I do not think that pluto should be considered a planet.
It is too unlike everything else in our solar system.

[Turtle]

I hear that the Big Boys & Girls (IAU - International Astonomers Union) are in Prague hashing out an official answer to the "is Pluto a planet" question as we post.
http://www.iau.org/

I think Pluto is no longer deserving of the title planet; call it a planetoid or asteroid & give it some class A status or some such. It is only unique now in terms of the first such far-distant-body identified.

[Tormod]

I thought Pluto was a dog?! What's going on here!

[cwes99_03]

What recommendations would those of us in the know give as requirements to title a celestial body as a planet?

I believe there needs to be some size requirements, though what these may be I'm not sure.
I also believe there should be a requirement on the value of the eliptical orbit (I forget the letter used in geometry for this value).
Also should there be a requirement for composition. One article I read suggested classification of planets similar to that of the stars - gas giant, ice dwarf, etc. This seems very similar to the classifications used in Star Trek of m,p,j,etc class planets.
Here's my question. What is the eliptical value of the orbit of Neptune? (I ask this because I can't remember whether Neptune's orbit is more eliptical or Pluto's but I know that their orbit paths overlap so that Pluto during certain times of the year is nearer the sun than Neptune. This has been used along with the size of Pluto to give cause for it being titled a planet. However, there are objects nearer the sun that have a near perfect circular orbit, but are much smaller than Pluto, and there are objects significan't larger than Pluto further out in orbit (which is why there is even a question in the first place.)

[Tormod]

It is Pluto's path that takes it inside that of Neptune. Also, Pluto's orbit lies at an inclination compared to the other planets, which suggests that it was not born in the same way as the planets, but rather pulled out of the Kuiper belt and ended up in a planet-like orbit.

[Jay-qu]

I heard that there was a possibility that pluto was once formed as a moon around neptune, and flung out by some interaction.

I dont think its a planet, because of the things already mentioned.
There was also another interesting thing to note that got said in my last lecture. As you move out from the sun each next orbit is in a similar ratio to that of the previous planets orbit, I am yet to test this, and apparently it is really rough, but pluto is way out. The kicker is that quoaor is at an orbit of approx the next ratio out after neptune, its orbit is also lying in the plane of the solar system and fairly circular. Do we then call that a planet?

[myspip90]

Haven't objects (not officially planets though) further away from Pluto been observed that are larger than pluto?

[CerebralEcstasy]

Originally Posted by myspip90

Haven't objects (not officially planets though) further away from Pluto been observed that are larger than pluto?

Yes, Zena for instance. Larger than Pluto, yet not considered a planet.

[Turtle]

This just in from Prauge: the Pluton!?

Originally Posted by scottsman.com

A NEW kind of planet, the "pluton", could soon be taking its place in the Solar System.

Astronomers have agreed on a draft proposal for redefining what constitutes a planet.

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1194292006