Is Pluto A Planet?

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Is Pluto a Planet?? Recently, Pluto has become a topic of controversy and discussion among scientists, students, and the public. However there are always two sides to a story and the debate as to whether or not Pluto should be classified as a planet or not is no exception. Due to the unclear and confusing definition of which objects floating around in space can truly be classified as planets, Pluto has been a hot topic. When looking at how planets were classified at the time of Pluto’s discovery technology was much different. The criterion then and now, for the most part, relies on classifying an object as a planet as long as: it orbits around the sun, is massive enough to create its own gravitational shape and force, and must have cleared the neighboring area around its orbit. However, going by these guide lines Pluto does not meet the requirements. For this and other reasons I feel that Pluto should no longer be classified as a planet. There are many issues to consider either way you classify Pluto. However, by classifying Pluto as a dwarf planet I feel there will be much less confusion in future discoveries. In fact that is one of the reasons that the entire debate was fueled. There had always been controversy surrounding Pluto, yet in October 2003 Michael Brown, discovered an object very similar to Pluto. This new object had its own moon and is actually bigger than Pluto. This new discovery by Brown was give the name UB313 and since its discovery along with the continued exploration of the Kupier Belt, turned up other objects named Quaoar, in 2002 and Sedna in 2004. Based on the understanding that Pluto is a planet than it stands to reason that anything larger than it is a planet as well. This opened the door to astronomers to be able to add additional planets to our solar system, instead of classifying them as dwarf planets or asteroids. In

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