Poll: Pluto, is it still a planet?

[Seanchaidh]

The word planet has been basically an arbitrary categorization. For it to be a useful term, it should have a consistent definition. If the most useful and consistent definition disallows Pluto to qualify, then we should cease to consider Pluto a planet for scientific discussion. However, that doesn't mean you personally cannot consider Pluto a planet. You can do whatever you want with it, it's just a word. Just recognize that you're departing from the conventional scientific meaning when you use it that way. As for me, I consider Pluto a dog.

 

[Captain Blackout]

No, not since the definition of "planet" changed.

It's not that it changed, it's that we'd never actually had a real definition of the word before. Scientists got together and finally decided it needed to be defined. Pluto didn't make the cut, that's all there is to it.

You have a contradiction in your posts. You say this isn't subjective, but all definitions are subjective. We made them up. Just because some things are defined by groups with an education doesn't make the definitions any less subjective. If scientists had defined planet as "Those things circling the sun planet like (as opposed to moon-like) that got enough attention as a planetary type object" then pluto would still be in. If scientists had said "Those object circling the sun planet like, and here are the nine named ones" it would still be in. Granted, the dividing line isn't completely arbitrary as we can see differences from one group (the 8 recognized planets) and the oddballs (Pluto and Vesta) but if we look hard enough we can find any number of qualifiers to use to define planet.

So here's a question: Why do the scientists who didn't actually discover the planets get to define what is and isn't a planet? Why not look for those qualifiers that led to the discovery of the 9 planets and use that as a defining quality? Pluto could be the planetary representative of the Kupier Belt, sort like an ambassador that fits in both the group they're from and the group they're entreating.

 

[ArcWinter]

Wait, it's classified as a dwarf planet? Do the scientists know that due to elementary level grammar that it's still a planet?

Adj: Dwarf, N: planet.

Anyway, who cares? It's a giant rock in space. Fun to blow up, and it looks shiny in the sky, but that's it.

 

[Connosaurus Rex]

I just call pluto a midget planet or dwarf-planet which makes it sound cooler to me.

 

[DanielPowell33]

What do u think.....

EDIT: The other thread with the same name f'ed up and erased my poll, so i posted this new one.

EDIT 2: WOW, I cant belive how close the poll is, I thought it would be overwhelmingly yes.

why would it be an overwhelming yes when it's not a planet?

is the moon a planet? no... it's a moon.
is pluto a planet? no... it's a big rock.

Because, I still think of it as a planet, I was tought in school that it was a planet, and it's been "officially" a planet for most of my life, and just cuz some scientist says its no longer a planet doesn't mean im going to change my views about it.

I just thought most people would think the same way.

 

[RanD00M]

Yes it is a planet.I was razed with it being called a planet.And i will die calling it a planet.

 

[suhlEap]

What do u think.....

EDIT: The other thread with the same name f'ed up and erased my poll, so i posted this new one.

EDIT 2: WOW, I cant belive how close the poll is, I thought it would be overwhelmingly yes.

why would it be an overwhelming yes when it's not a planet?

is the moon a planet? no... it's a moon.
is pluto a planet? no... it's a big rock.

Because, I still think of it as a planet, I was tought in school that it was a planet, and it's been "officially" a planet for most of my life, and just cuz some scientist says its no longer a planet doesn't mean im going to change my views about it.

I just thought most people would think the same way.

well yeah i guess that's fair enough. but it isn't a planet, people just gotta get used to it

 

[Deef]

Not a planet. It's just not special enough.

 

[Kriptonite]

I consider Pluto to still be a planet even though it isn't. I got the SnorgTee sweatshirt that says. "It's okay Pluto, I'm not a Planet either."

Spoiler: Click here to see the sweatshirt I got

 

[XJ-0461]

You're almost all mistaken. Pluto is Mickey Mouse's pet dog.

In all seriousnes, I think it is a planet, even if the experts don't.

 

[wootsniper]

Wait, it's classified as a dwarf planet? Do the scientists know that due to elementary level grammar that it's still a planet?

Adj: Dwarf, N: planet.

Anyway, who cares? It's a giant rock in space. Fun to blow up, and it looks shiny in the sky, but that's it.

just because it has the word "planet" in it, doesn't mean its a planet :S

 

[wootsniper]

"A planet is defined at something that has sufficient mass as to be roughly spherical in shape"
I dont remember who said it but it's quite interesting i didn't know that

 

[Cakes]

This isn't really a matter of opinion. If we classed Pluto as a planet there's a shit-ton of other space debris we'd have to call planets too.

 

[ArcWinter]

Wait, it's classified as a dwarf planet? Do the scientists know that due to elementary level grammar that it's still a planet?

Adj: Dwarf, N: planet.

Anyway, who cares? It's a giant rock in space. Fun to blow up, and it looks shiny in the sky, but that's it.

just because it has the word "planet" in it, doesn't mean its a planet :S

True. But what I'm saying is, make up a better name for it! Jeez, you can add one word to change the whole meaning, but why not make up your own word?

"Pluto is now classifed as a level 3 Skaznift, and will be treated as such in the scientific community."
I mean, they made up quarks, and that isn't even fun to say.

 

[Dr_Matt]

While it is true that there are rocks bigger than Pluto in our solar system, none of them have stable orbit or a moon. Hence they are, and were not considered to be "planets". And since Pluto possesses bot of those qualities, it deserves that proud name (planet) in my humble opinion.

Eris is bigger than Pluto, it has a stable orbit, and has a satellite (and no, it isn't a planet).

"A planet is defined at something that has sufficient mass as to be roughly spherical in shape"
I dont remember who said it but it's quite interesting i didn't know that

Same applies to dwarf planets. To be a planet, the body must also be in orbit around a parent star, and gravitationally dominate its orbital environment. If this last point is not true, and the body is not a satellite, then it is a dwarf planet.

 

[Azraellod]

no. it's been declared officially not a planet, and if it was one we would need to declare a lot of other things around the same size as it in the solar system also planets.

 

[Xanadu84]

This is simple. In scientific parlance, it is not a planet. In common parlance, it is. Kind of like how scientifically, tomato is a fruit, but in common language, it's a vegetable. Different lingo for different circumstances, that's all this is.

 

[anNIALLator]

If you consider Pluto a planet, then you're leaving out Ceres, Haumea, Makemake etc. Pluto just does not belong in the same category as the other 8.

 

[DracoSuave]

I think that even though Pluto isn't big enough or doesn't dominate its gravitational field doesn't mean that should take away its planet-dum.

Congrats. You just called our Moon a planet.

Look up at your night sky, that white sliver of the waning Planet as it goes about its orbit...

 

[The Black Adder]

I always thought that Pluto was a KBO. Kuiper belt object for those that are unaware.