Why is pluto a dwarf planet?
Pluto is smaller than 7 of the moons in the Solar System. Because it is so small many scientists don't consider it a planet at all. In 1999 a group of scientists attempted to redesignate Pluto as a comet. On August 24th, 2006 Pluto's status was officially changed from planet to dwarf planet. The reason Pluto was demoted is because in 2006, the definition of a planet was changed: The definition of "planet" set in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) states that in the Solar System a planet is a celestial body that: 1. is in orbit around the Sun, 2. has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and 3. has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit. Is Pluto in orbit around the Sun? Yes. Does Pluto have sufficient mass to be nearly round? Yes. Has Pluto "cleared the neighborhood" around it's orbit? NO. Had this new definition not been made, then there would be 13 planets. Instead, now there are 8 planets and 5 dwarf planets.
How has Pluto become a dwarf plannet?
Pluto's orbit is irregular, one of the definitions of a planet is that it has a circular orbit, unlike Pluto that has an elliptical orbit. Pluto also crosses over Neptune so isn't always the furthest away from the Sun. Why they never converted Pluto into a Dwarf Planet years ago, since they have known of its orbit for a long time. P.S: Before Pluto's status was relegated to a Dwarf Planet there were 10 planets because they found another Planet earlier this year.
Pluto; Planet, Dwarf Planet, or what?
Should be called a dwarf planet in my opinion. One of the supporting reasons is that recently several objects the size of Pluto (one is even bigger, i think) have been found out in the outer regions of the solar system. And it looks like there may be many more, including smaller but similar bodies. The choice came down to adding many new planets--all of which were quite small and remote--to the list of planets, or reclassifying them as something else. This is similar to what happened when scientist started finding asteroids in the asteroid belt. First they found Ceres, which was the biggest, but quite small by planetary standards. But then they started finding more and more, until there were thousands, with most being too small to really call planets. That's when scientists decided it made more sense to reclassify them as asteroids then to add thousands of new, tiny planets.
Why was the dwarf planet pluto named after the greed god hades?
the other planets were named after roman gods also, jupiter, saturn etc. "Pluto - Pluto represents the god of the dead and underworld, Hades. It's the coldest and most desolate of the planets. Very appropriate for representing the cold, desolate state of being we call death. It's one moon is named after the ferryman of the dead, Charon. I guess in a way, Charon is still ferrying around Pluto (Hades) to this very day" check out the source for more info
Why is Pluto considered a dwarf planet?
It has not cleared it's orbital path of other objects. It is simply one object of many in what is called the Kupier belt. Think of the many objects in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Kupier belt is similar except these objects are icy. Pluto was mistakenly named a planet when it was first discovered. It was thought to be the size of Mars. We now know that this was because of the icy reflection from Pluto. It turned out to be much much smaller in reality. Although size has nothing to do with being called a planet, if we knew the actual size of Pluto when it was first discovered, it probably would never have been called a planet in the first place. It was a mistake that was finally corrected in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.