The Planet Pluto

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that, in 1930, the Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of the ninth planet, Pluto, but then, in 2006, the scientific community decided that Pluto would lose its status as a planet. The paper then explains that this decision was based on the scientific community's discovery that Pluto is more akin to the making of an asteroid than it is to a planet. The paper also looks at the opinion of people who think Pluto should still be a planet and posits that the many questions about Pluto will be answered when the New Horizons space satellite arrives at Pluto in 2015.

From the Paper:

"In 1930, the Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of a small planetary body beyond the planet Neptune (Gingerich, 2007, 137). It was named Pluto, following the suggestion of a young girl who thought that name was right because the first two letters incorporated the initials of the scientist for whom the Lowell Observatory was named for (Gingerich, 137). In hindsight, the rush to bestow planetary status on the tiny heavenly body was perhaps more a need for the Lowell Observatory to have a role in the discovery of something scientifically significant than in something that met the standards of scientific theory and research."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Jewitt, David, and Jane X. Luu. "Pluto, Perception & Planetary Politics." Daedalus 136.1 (2007): 132+. Questia. 4 Aug. 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5020031352>.
• "Pluto or Bust!." The Technology Teacher 64.5 (2005): 6+. Questia. 4 Aug. 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5009383579>.
• Shandler, Geoff. "The Diamonds of Neptune." American Scholar Autumn 2001: 87+. Questia. 4 Aug. 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002424167>.

More papers on The Planet Pluto:

• Essay # 16335 : "Pluto, Charon, and Planet X"
• Term Paper # 133523 : "The Planets"
• Descriptive Essay # 113477 : "Pluto's Demotion from Fully-Fledged Planet"

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