Sarah

=Pluto- Is It A Planet? Or Not?=



[|//Pluto//] today, is not known to be a [|////planet////]. Although there are people and [|//astrologists//] debating whether or not Pluto deserves still be considered as a planet due to it's size, compared to the rest of the planets. This planet is also the second largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, since right now it's not known as a "planet" but as a [|//"Dwarf Planet"//]. It's also only made from water, rock and ice, since it's so far away from the sun it's also the coldest, -380 degrees farienheit. Well we all know it's the smallest, but it's approximately a fifth of the Earth's mass and a third of it's volume. About 98% of Pluto is nitrogen, ice held with traces of methane and carbon monoxide. Pluto, was discovered in 1930, and also has it's own [|//Satellite//] Charon. Pluto is also approximately 3.7 billion miles from the sun ( 5.9 billion km). [|//Scientists//] also discovered it takes six days, 9 hours and 18 minutes to rotate once. I was amazed to find out that one year on Pluto is 248 Earth years!!



Although, astologers have some fairly good reasons why Pluto is no longer an actual planet. About 76 years ago, astromers thought there was something with the orbit of Neptune and Uranus. They realized they were wrong, and that it was actually Pluto interfeering with their [|//orbit//]. Since most planets go around the sun in near-circles, Pluto's orbit looks more like an egg. Surprisingly enough, Pluto actually crosses inside the orbit of Neptune, making Pluto the 8th planet. As well Pluto's tilt is at a 17 degree angle. The main problem though, of debating if Pluto should be a planet is when astonomers started to find other things "out there". The objects the surround Pluto's neighborhood like icy bodies about the size of [|//asteroids//]//.// These objects orbitied the sun which was then called the [|//"Kuiper Belt"//]. This though began to cause some more problems in 2005 when Caltech astronomer Mike Brown found something even larger in the Kuiper Belt, and that was then called [|//2003 UB313//], also known as "Xena". What got them questioning though was that if Pluto is a planet, shouldn't Xena be a planet as well? It was found orbiting the Sun as well, so then should it be a planet as well? What tickled the astonomer's tongue though was what if there are even more worllds larger than Pluto hiding in the dark from Kuiper's Belt. Are they also planets? From this day, astonomers are debating whether we should have more planets or just leave it how it is.



Now for higher thinking I am going to do an essay, debating why I think Pluto **should** be a planet. Since there are people who still debate if Pluto should still be a known as a planet.

For many years, Pluto was known to be a proud known planet in our solar system of nine planets, including Pluto. Now though, just because of it's size, it's know longer called a planet, but known as a "dwarf planet". Even though it's small, I still think it should be a planet, because of it's uniqueness and it's history.

Pluto, has been part of our solar system and called a "planet" for many years. I don't think it's right to let it not be a planet, because Pluto has it's own uniqueness that most planets don't have. For example, it being so small is unique. Shouldn't we have different varieties of planets for our solar system? Differances in each planet is important. For example, Saturn has rings which makes it unique, and Jupiter has the huge red storm on it, which makes it unique as well. Pluto's uniqueness is that it's the smallest, furthest away from our Sun, and it's the coldest of them all. Plus since Pluto has it's own satellite [|//Charon//]//,// which should give Pluto some planet like quality. As well, it was declared a planet in 1930, so why bother to change it.

Now as for the history, [|//Greek Mythology//] had Gods and Goddesses for each and every planet. The Greek God that was given to Pluto was [|//Hades//]. Hades is known for the God of the Underworld, which I think is pretty amazing. By not letting Pluto stay as a planet, changes it from what it was, a symbol for a God. If Greek Mythology declared Pluto as a symbol, it should still have it's importance of being a well known planet in our solar system, like all the other planets. Through all the trouble people have gone through to discover new planets in all these years, Pluto should be acknowledged for it's unique character and what it represents.

Pluto is an amazing planet, and should stay as one since it has so much to offer for us. During all of my research though, I've learned more than I actually thought I would. Pluto, is a magnificent planet, mysteries still waiting to be unfolded...