Is Pluto a Planet?
Gather evidence about the following:
Why was Pluto considered a planet in the first place?
Why is it considered a dwarf planet now?
Yes, Pluto is a planet
Side Score: 4
|
 |
No, Pluto is a dwarf planet
Side Score: 7
Winning Side! |
|
|
|
|
1
point
It's a little off given who actually made the call, but still good for laughs. Side: Yes, Pluto is a planet
|
2
points
it is considered a dwarf planet now because the definition of what a planet is has changed. it is now the following in application to the sol system: 1. it must orbit the sun in an elliptical orbit 2. it must be a spheroid under its own gravity 3. it must have cleared the 'neighbourhood' (other asteroids and debris not including moons or geometric rings) when pluto was first discovered by the greeks they were unable to discover its size or distance from the sun and hence labeled virtually everything other than what they could determine as a star (something with a relatively fixed point in the sky) as a planet. when this new definition of a planet was created around 2005, pluto simply didn't fully meet the standards of requirements #2 and 3, and has been disowned from our solar system since as a planet. Side: No, Pluto is a dwarf planet
1
point
1
point
1
point
its not really a problem of "figuring it out" as the only reason pluto was detitled was because a solid(er) definition had to be formed otherwise all the large existing bodies (something like 14) couldnt be categorised. (although initially 9 (including pluto) were already called out from the 14 as planets...) but pluto having an especially elliptical is not what disqualified it as a planet. Side: Yes, Pluto is a planet
Well, it seems to me that since several other bodies of similar or even larger size, have been discovered in the Kuiper Belt, we have to say they're all planets... or none of them are.... sorry Pluto, it's just not fair to the other guys. http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/ Side: No, Pluto is a dwarf planet
|
