... 6-2 Is Pluto a Planet? Many people think that Pluto should not be considered a planet. There really wasn't a definition of a planet until scientsts started discussing whether or not Pluto should be a planet. The definition scientist came up with for a planet is a body of mass in space that has enough mass to have a sufficent amount of gravity to obtain a round shape, has cleared its neighborhood around its orbit, and orbits around the sun. Using the informtation from my research and information, I think that Pluto should be considered a planet. Pluto should be a planet because it follows all of the guidlines of a planet. One reason that Pluto should be a planet is that it was considered a planet until scientists starting thinking about it a came up with a definition that would classify it as a dwarf planet. There was never a clear definition of a planet until the contreversy about Pluto. Also it orbits the sun, like all of the other planets. Pluto also has enough mass to have a round shape. Although Pluto has not completely cleared its orbit, amost half of the other planets haven't completely cleared their orbit such as Earth, Neptune, and Jupiter, which would classify them as something other than a planet. Since Pluto is similar to other planets, it should be a planet. Therefore, Pluto should be considered a planet because it is round, orbits the sun, is similar to other planets, and the definition of a planet would de-classify other planets as...
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...The Lowell Observatory did not concentrate wholly on Mars; “his other planetary observations - of Venus, Mercury, and Saturn - were also useful.” (Bruce Bond). Consequently, Slipher came to the observatory as a temporary assistant and he made a significant discoveries which is “how to measure the expansion of the universe.” (Bruce Bond). Then, Christopher Crockett in “Pluto: Explored. (Cover Story)” said that on February 18, 1930, the astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered new planet. Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,...
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...our solar system is whether Pluto should be classified as a planet. In 2006, Pluto was relegated from planet to dwarf planet. After a few years, the debate appeared to be settled. However, this past week when the New Horizons probe was set out to be the first spacecraft to visit Pluto new questions were raised. According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), an object is considered a planet when it meets three criteria: it has to orbit the sun, be large enough that the force of its gravity pulls it into a spherical shape, and have "cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." In theory, an object that's large enough will clear its orbit either by collecting other debris with its gravity or by surviving impacts with the debris....
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...Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond Neptune. It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered. It is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris, a dwarf planet in the scattered disc. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock[14] and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units or AU (4.4–7.3 billion km) from the Sun. This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stable orbital resonance with Neptune prevents them from colliding. In 2014, Pluto was 32.6 AU from the Sun. Light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance (39.4 AU).[15] Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, and was originally considered the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its status as a planet fell into question following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto, was discovered, which led the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term "planet" formally for the first time the following year.[16]...
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...Name: Raj Patel Class: 12.3 Title: Pluto-: Planet or Not? Pluto-: Planet or Not? Pluto is one of the nine planets of our solar system. Some people argue whether it is worthy of having its title as a planet. In 1930 Clyde W. Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona discovered the planet Pluto. After serving 76 long years as the ninth planet in our solar system, Pluto was controversially demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006.This has raised many debates on whether Pluto was categorized unfairly or not. Astronomers from both sides of the debate have legitimate arguments making it tough to decide whether Pluto should be classified as a planet or a dwarf planet. Pluto’s title as a planet was questioned when Mike Brown, Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology discovered an object in 2005 that was further out than the orbit of Pluto. The object was also 25% more massive than Pluto. This object was later named Eris. It is located along with Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. There are plenty of other mysterious objects located in the Kuiper Belt that are more or less the same size as Pluto and Eris. This troubled the International Astronomical Union because this meant that there are tens to hundreds of objects that could very soon be known as planets. There are approximately more than 1,000 objects composed of the same icy mixture located in the Kuiper Belt. Many astronomers, scientists, and the International Astronomical Union...
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...Section ASTR101-0AM Overview ? Become familiar with the scale of the planets vs. their distances. ? Get an overview of the solar system. ? 50 points are possible Introduction It is easy to flip to the index of an astronomy textbook to discover that, say, the Sun lies 150 million kilometers away from Earth. It is far more difficult (if not impossible), however, to picture this distance in our mind. In this exercise, we will learn to access the often unpalatable distances encountered in astronomy by simply scaling the huge distances to more recognizable, familiar numbers. So long as every distance within the system of interest is scaled by the same factor, we retain the meaningful information about relative distances between objects. This is exactly the same principle employed by map makers, so that they can fit Texas, onto a book page. General Overview Questions: A. The definition of a planet was changed in 2006. Using your textbook and the webpage resource listed below in number 1: Discuss what the characteristics of a planet are and how this new criteria declassified Pluto. B. How do the sizes of the terrestrial planets compare to the gas giants? C. How do the sizes of all the planets compare to the Sun? Approximatley how many Earths would be required to fill the Sun? D. If the Sun were the size of a basketball: What would the comparative sizes of Earth and Jupiter be similar to? (Identify what common, round objects would be similar to Earth...
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...those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and asteroids. *The Planets of the Solar system and their name meanings Mercury- the messenger god Venus- god of love Earth- is the son of Gaia goddess of universe Mars- god of war Jupiter- god of lightning Saturn- god of agriculture Uranus- god of light Neptune- god of the sea Pluto- god of death Mercury is the smallest and closest to the Sun of the eight planets in the Solar System, with an orbital period of about 88 Earth days. Seen from Earth, it appears to move around its orbit in about 116 days, which is much faster than any other planet in the Solar System. It has no known natural satellites. The planet is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger to the gods. Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It has no natural satellite. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun. Earth is the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only astronomical object known to accommodate life. Although...
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...his discovery on January 17, 1610 that the Earth is a planet just like other planets revolving round the Sun, which is a star. It was also established that the sun due to its gravitational pull attracts all these planets which revolve round it. Apart from the Earth there are some other planets which go round the sun. These planets, however, vary in size and also in their distance from the sun. They have their own orbits, and the period of rotation also varies in each case. Some of these planets have satellites called moons, varying in number. Some do not have any satellites. Normally, if they do not have a counter pull, they should have been dragged into the sun by the gravitational pull. These gravitation pulls of the sun and the counter pulls of the planets are called centrifugal forces. The planets revolve round the sun in their own specific orbits. These planets could be arranged in an order based on their distance from the sun. The nearest to the sun is Mercury and the next is Venus. Third comes the Earth. Later in the same order come Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Pluto is the most distant planet. If the are arranged in the order of size, the order would be ; 1. Jupiter, 2. Saturn, 3. Neptune, 4.Uranus, 5. Earth, 6. Venus, 7. Mars, 8. Pluto and 9. Mercury. The solar system has a diameter of 17,900 million kms. The nine planets can be grouped into two groups: 1. Small but high density planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars and 2. big but low...
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...Planetary Comparison SCI/151 May 3, 2011 Norman Stradleigh Planetary Comparison Planet Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest of the planets of the Solar System. Earth’s surface is 71 percent water and is the only astronomical planet currently known where life exists. Earth is our home planet. Scientist and astronomers have studied our planet for Centuries and they have discovered much about our planet. Scientist have gained so much more knowledge of our Solar System in the last half-century after the NASA launched the first spacecraft and travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere has opened up to those who wish to explore. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss Earth and the comparison between the other known planets in our Solar system. Earth has several layers that have distinct chemical and seismic properties: Crust, Upper mantle, Transition region, Lower mantle, D’’ layer, Outer core, and Inner core. The crust, the part we inhabit, is just a tiny fraction of the Earths mass. Most of the mass of the Earth is in the mantle, a majority of the rest is in the core (Nine Planets, 1994-2010). Earth has three layers of density: The core primarily metals, such as nickel and iron, resides in the central core and is the highest-density material. The Mantel forms the thick mantle that surrounds the core is mostly minerals that contain silicone, oxygen, and other elements and is a rocky material of modest density....
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...The discovery of a new planet with the capacity for human life implicates the human ambition to naturally and decisively desire to conquer the land. This begs the question of how the land will be used and what would be unfair for the environment. The classification of Europa will present a task. The discovery of life on Europa will be problematic for religions with creationist beliefs. The conflict of land ownership is problematic on Earth. By analogy, we can assume that there will most definitely be conflict of land ownership on Europa. It’s unclear who— if anyone—will own the land. It is likely that Europa is included in what the United Nations defines as celestial bodies (United Nations 1967). If so, under the basis of the United Nation’s...
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...Is Cheerleading a Sport? Cheerleading is like the planet Pluto. Many people believe that Pluto is no longer a planet, but others disagree. Just like cheerleading, many people think it is a sport, but others also disagree. When someone sees pluto as a dwarf planet, they don’t consider it to be an actual planet. Cheerleading is often mistaken as not a sport because it is not an olympic sport. Just because an object is missing an element, doesn’t mean it should be considered something different. Cheerleading is a sport; cheer teams compete in national competitions, cheer training is long and hard, and cheer has been considered a olympic sport. When someone brings up cheerleading, many people picture in their minds girls cheering at a basketball,...
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...is vast; there are billions upon billion planets that could have extraterrestrial life on it. The question is; how long until we are able to travel these distances...
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...important astronomical observation made prior to the year 2000. 2. Controversy: Identify a significant scientific controversy from either the past or the present of astronomy, explain why it was a controversy, and how it was resolved (if it has been). The possible formats for the project are: 1. Podcast-style audio clip 2. Poster 3. Video You will need to choose one topic to research and one format in which to present your results. Project Topics Your project topic must be directly related to AST 201. There are many topics in astronomy that are not directly related to this course. AST 201 focuses on stars, galaxies, black holes, and the universe as a whole. Thus, topics related mainly to planets, exoplanets, and solar system objects (such as moons, asteroids, and comets) would be considered ineligible for this project. Topic 1: Important Observation Astronomical discoveries have been shaping our sense of ourselves for thousands of years. For example, the discovery that the Earth was not at the centre of the universe has had profound implications within and beyond astronomy. Similarly, many people say that the modern environmental movement was...
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...expanding universe of galaxies. Many people believe that nature, the sun and moon, the star, even human beings never had a beginning. There is an endless, external cycle of birth, life and death that constantly repeats itself and it never began and will never end. In the Book of Genesis in the Bible, it was written that at first the world did not exist and that God is the only one who existed. So He created the world. The universe is the totality of everything that has ever existed. It is so large that it contains billions of stars, and all of the planets, galaxies and all of space. The study of the universe is called Cosmology. Traditional Views about the Universe 1. Geocentric Universe Greeks believed that the earth was a sphere that stayed motionless at the center of the universe or the geocentric (Earth-centered) view. Orbiting the earth were seven wanderers (planetai in Greek) including the sun, the moon and the known planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Greece was centered as the “Golden Age” of early astronomy. Claudius Ptolemy created the book Almagest, the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. His geocentric outlook later became the Ptolemaic system in the second century A.D. and dominated western thought for some 2000 years. 2. The Heliocentric System The view of the universe in which the sun is taken to be at the center is called the heliocentric system. It was first proposed by Aristarchus of Samos but is...
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...Submitting Essays Essays are due before midnight on Sunday Oct 11th (end of week 10). They should be submitted online through the submission box provided in the Assessments page on Moodle. You can submit in a range of file formats (MS Word, WordPerfect, PDF, Postscript, HTML, RTF and plain text). Essay Topics — Choose one of the following 1. History of Radio Telescopes Describe the development of single dish radio telescopes and advantages of radio interferometers. Discuss major discoveries that were possible after detection of radio waves from space and how they changed our understanding of Universe. 2. The Earliest Evidence for Life Review the earliest evidence for life on Earth. What form does the evidence take and where is it found. Discuss the controversies relating to some of this evidence and give your conclusion on the earliest date at which we can be confident that life was present on Earth. 3. Atmosphere Evolution on Rocky Planets Compare evolution of atmosphere on Earth, Venus and Mars, and explain differences in current atmospheric conditions on these planets. Describe how the Earth’s atmosphere helped life to originate, survive and develop, and how has life affected the atmosphere over time. 4. Life in Extreme Conditions Explain what extremophile life forms are and where they are found on Earth. In view of what we have learnt about extremophiles discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life in different places of our Solar system...
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