PLUTO
$1.25
Vol XCIII, No. 311
May 11th Monday 2006
Picture of Pluto
Why was Pluto a dwarf planet?
The dwarf planet.
Pluto was known as the smallest planet in the solar system and the ninth planet from the sun. Today , Pluto is called a "dwarf planet."A dwarf planet orbits the sun just like others planets , but it is smaller. A dwarf planet is so small it cannot clear other objects out of its path.
Why Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet status?
Pluto is not a planet, there are finally,officially, eight planets in the solar system.
Capping years of intense debate, astronomers resolved today to demo Pluto in a wholesale redefinition planet hood that is being billed as a victory to scientific reasoning over historic and cultural influences. But already the decision is being hotly debated.
Officially, Pluto is no longer a planet.
The vote for Pluto
The vote involved just 424 astronomers who remained for the last day of a meeting of the international astronomical union (IAU) in Prague.