Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Pluto Debate (Leo)

As there have been debates, complaints, and arguments as to Pluto's Planet hood, among even the most brilliant of scientists, I have decided to conclude, along with many other scientists, that Pluto is not a planet.
The first complaint I have against Pluto being a planet is against its size. Any object of this size orbiting the sun can hardly be considered a planet. Many moons in our solar system are much bigger than Pluto. These moons include Earth's moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton.
My second point involves the complaint against Pluto's highly elliptical orbit. Pluto's orbit is the most highly elliptical of all the other planets. It also is the only planet that intersects with another planet's orbit. In this case it changes places as the ninth planet with Neptune. Pluto is the only planet that has a diagonal orbit instead of the ''flat plain'' orbits the other planets possess. Many comets possess this "diagonal" orbit as well; therefore, if Pluto were a comet, this would be natural.
My fourth point is that Pluto is a misfit. The planets beyond the asteroid belt are all Gas Giants. If Pluto were a planet, the drastic change of weather between Neptune and Pluto should be taken into account. Another road block as to Pluto being a planet is that Pluto's moon's size. most planets are minute compared to the planets they orbit. Charon. Pluto's moon, could be a double-planet system with Pluto.
My fifth point is that Pluto looks much like a comet. A comet is a space object with ice and debris mixed in. These features describe Pluto. Pluto is also the only planet that does not have a hot inner core, and, though many objects in the Kuiper Belt are smaller than Pluto, there still remains one space object that is larger than Pluto.
Based on the facts that I have gathered about Pluto's size, Pluto's off center and inclining orbit, Charon, Pluto's moon's size, and the reasons for Pluto's looking like a comet, there is evidence to cause someone to believe that Pluto is a space object.

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