Are you wondering around the web in the search of why pluto is no more a planet?
Then my friend, you are on the right page. Don't go anywhere beacuse in this article you will get all the details and answers on why pluto is no more considered as a planet in our solar-system. In this article, your all questions related to the pluto's removal from our solar-system are answered. So read and enjoy !
There are so many unsolved secrets and mysteries hidden in this endless universe whose answers are still not known to any scientist. There are so many galaxies in this universe and each galaxy has infinite numbers of planets which are orbiting their respective stars. As we know that there are eight planets in our solar system which are :- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus and Neptune which orbits around the star of our solar system "The Sun".
But before the year 2006, there were not eight planets in our solar system. Instead of eight, there were nine planets in our solar system and the ninth planet was "Pluto". So now the questions is that, what was happened in the year 2006 which took away the status of Pluto as a planet? Does Pluto get destroyed or separated from our solar system? So, today in this article we will answer all of these questions and will tell you some interesting facts about Pluto.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2006 ?
When NASA launched its mission "New horizons" in Jan 2006, at that time Pluto was considered as the ninth planet of our solar system but after some months of launching the spacecraft into the space for this mission, IAU (International Astronomical Union) that recognises and give names to the planets, launched a plan and furious for the first time on giving planetary status to a planet and deciding the definition of planets. And after this, it downgraded the status of Pluto as a planet and it's identity remained as a dwarf planet in the wreckage of kuiper belt.
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| New horizons spacecraft Image credit:-NASA |
Since childhood, we have been studying that there are nine planets in our solar system but years ago,this planet was removed from this category. Now you will ask why this was done ? So the answer is that the planet Pluto coming out of this category, was not considered as a planet due to being too small and far away from the sun. This is now called as a "dwarf planet". This planet was removed from the planetary category on 24th August 2006 by astronomical scientists.
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| Kuiper belt Image Credit:-NASA |
WHY PLUTO ISN'T A PLANET ?
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| Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of Pluto February 4, 1906 to January 17, 1997. |
After the study of so many years, Pluto was discovered by Clyde William Tombaugh (an American astronomer) in the year 1930. But later on, new studies went on slowly-slowly and scientists found that where Pluto was orbiting around the sun in its orbit, there were many other celestial bodies of its size.So, scientists from all over the world gathered at IAU and improved the interpretation of planets. Then IAU gave three laws of being a planet for celestial bodies which are :-
1.Planets should orbit around the sun.
2.Planets should have sufficient mass to keep them in round shape.
3.Planets should have sufficient gravity to clear it's neighbourhood.
So Pluto satisfies the first two laws but not the third. According to the third law, planets should have sufficient gravitational energy so that the bodies around it, get attached to it or orbit around it. But Pluto was not satisfying the third law as there were too many bodies around it which are moving freely around Pluto and have bigger gravity than it. Therefore, it's status as a planet was downgraded and it was being called as a dwarf planet.
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