Is Pluto a Planet?

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how Pluto recently came under fire regarding the legitimacy of its status as a planet of the solar system. The paper examines the controversy that began when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1999, was implicated with the decision of reconsidering Pluto's planetary status. The paper concludes that the issue was finally set to rest when the IAU duly rejected the status change as a rumour or misinformation and Pluto's status remained safe.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Pluto Statistics
Pluto Planet or comet (A Discussion)
Pluto (A Misfit?)
Conclusion
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"First and foremost comes the fact of size. As mentioned earlier, Pluto is the smallest planet and in terms of its size is even smaller than seven of the moons of other planets including earth's moon. Comparatively, mercury the next smallest planet is more than twice the size of Pluto. However, most astronomers brush aside this argument stating that Pluto is too big to be classified as a minor planet. For example, Ceres the largest minor planet that exists in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and mars is only 580 miles."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dana Desonie, 'Is Pluto a Planet', Available at, http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/article/0,,EXP666_NAV4-42_SAR920,00.shtmlAccessed Dec 4th 2005
• IAU, 'The Status of Pluto: A Clarification", Available at, http://www.iau.org/PlutoPR.htmlAccessed on Dec 4th 2005
• Space Today Online, 'It may be Small; But it's Still a Planet", Available at http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Pluto/PlutoPlanet.htmlAccessed Dec 4th 2005
• Kenneth Chang , 'Planetarium Takes Pluto Off Planet A List", Available at, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/science/22PLAN.html?ex=1134018000&en=10e08eb066fd4347&ei=5070Accessed Dec 5th 2005
• Bruce Moomaw, 'Final Pluto Showdown Looming' Available at, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-02j.htmlAccessed 5th Dec 2005

More papers on Is Pluto a Planet?:

• Descriptive Essay # 113477 : "Pluto's Demotion from Fully-Fledged Planet"
• Essay # 98080 : "Pluto"
• Term Paper # 113401 : "The Planet Pluto"

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