UCSB Science Line
Sponge Spicules Nerve Cells Galaxy Abalone Shell Nickel Succinate X-ray Lens Lupine
UCSB Science Line
Home
How it Works
Ask a Question
Search Topics
Webcasts
Our Scientists
Science Links
Contact Information
What are the three reasons Pluto is no longer considered a planet?
Question Date: 2016-09-25
Answer 1:

From our database: read here we can mention a few reasons why Pluto is not considered a planet anymore:
Pluto is not big enough as other objects that orbit our sun; Pluto has not either cleared its specific orbit of smaller objects.
Pluto has not sufficient gravity to make it round-ish.
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Pluto does not fit on the new definition of a planet; in terms of its composition and its orbit, Pluto is unlike the other planets.

For now, there are three official classes of objects in our Solar System: planets, dwarf planets, and small solar system bodies. Planets include the eight traditional planets from Mercury to Neptune, but no longer Pluto. Pluto is joined amongst the dwarf planets.



Click Here to return to the search form.

University of California, Santa Barbara Materials Research Laboratory National Science Foundation
This program is co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and UCSB School-University Partnerships
Copyright © 2020 The Regents of the University of California,
All Rights Reserved.
UCSB Terms of Use