Kylie's Pluto Challenge

[Kylie]

Mercury looks less like a planet to me than Pluto does.

But it has cleared its orbit of all the debris that still clutters the region where Pluto orbits. So bit of a difference there.

 

[Kylie]

Why not disqualify Mercury as planet simply because it looks too much like our moon?

Why not disqualify Earth because it doesn't look anything like Jupiter?

 

[AV1611VET]

Why not disqualify Earth because it doesn't look anything like Jupiter?

Might as well, since Earth is to Jupiter as Pluto is to Earth.

 

[Radrook]

But it has cleared its orbit of all the debris that still clutters the region where Pluto orbits. So bit of a difference there.

Have they actually seen the debris that they claim Pluto hasn't cleared? Please note the Pluto's orbit is very eccentric and that claim would need to include a very immense trajectory at a vey extreme angle to the rest of the planetary orbits. One moment Pluto is within the Oort cloud and Keiper Belt and the next it is out. So how is it expected to clear its orbit since those regions are constantly in motion?

Furthermore, the Keiper Belt itself is a theoretical construct and has never actually been observed or verified. It is assumed to surround the Solar System because that would explain where comets are coming from without any predictable direction being probable to calculate. They could very well be arriving from interstellar space as far as we know.

Might as well, since Earth is to Jupiter as Pluto is to Earth.

Why not disqualify my eyeball as an eyeball because it doesn't resemble Donald Trump's eyeball?

 

[AV1611VET]

Why not disqualify my eyeball as an eyeball because it doesn't resemble your eyeball?

Let's just disqualify everything and let the LORD sort it out?

 

[Radrook]

Let's just disqualify everything and let the LORD sort it out?

Good idea!

 

[Radrook]

An eyeball aint an eyeball
if it aint like Donald Trump's.
Like a camel aint camel
if it aint gots double humps.

A bird bees not no bird
if it don’t resemble eagle
A dawg bees not no dawg
if it don’t looks like a Beagle.

A cow aint be no cow
If it don’t make moo like me.
A sow can’t bees no sow
If it aint nó pig like she.
--------------

Sorry but couldn't resist.

Another objection to its planetary status is Pluto's Orbit which resembles that of a comet..

Pluto's Eccentric Orbit
Pluto - Wikipedia

 

[pgp_protector]

According to my criteria (Big thing in sky that isn't an asteroid, moon or star.) Pluto is still a planet.

So are Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea planets by your definition?

 

[aachen_hexagon]

https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fpluto-thalidomide%2Fdemotion-of-pluto

 

[2PhiloVoid]

On 24 August 2006, the International Astronomical Union created a clear definition of what constitutes a planet. (Before this, there was no clear definition of what an object needed to count as a planet or not.)

The definition stated that a planet:

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.

By this definition, Pluto (which had long been considered a planet) was no longer counted as a planet. Instead, it was placed into a category called "Dwarf Planet", since it fit only the first two criteria.

My challenge is this:

Does reclassifying Pluto to be a dwarf planet change our scientific understanding of Pluto in any way? If so, what way?

Interesting question. I'm thinking that by reclassifying Pluto, it gives it the kind of "scientific image" that sounds like it's worth studying continuously and more in depth rather than taking it for what it is ... just a big ol' hunk of ice. Who knows? Maybe by studying it, we'll cure cancer ... or something, as well as spend some hard earned taxpayer money along the way.

 

[AV1611VET]

I'm thinking that by reclassifying Pluto, it gives it the kind of "scientific image" that sounds like it's worth studying continuously ...

Yup.

Look busy ... give the public something ... anything ... to keep that support money coming in.

Scientific American comes up with something new or improved every month.

 

[brinny]

Poor Pluto.

 

[brinny]

Yup.

Look busy ... give the public something ... anything ... to keep that support money coming in.

Scientific American comes up with something new or improved every month.

LOL!

 

[Radrook]

Yup.

Look busy ... give the public something ... anything ... to keep that support money coming in.

Scientific American comes up with something new or improved every month.

Even a Barnum and Baily type science fair exhibition with scientists dressed up in the Cartoon Pluto outfits and attempting a few cartwhhels might keep the cash flowing. Worth a try.

 

[Radrook]

Interesting question. I'm thinking that by reclassifying Pluto, it gives it the kind of "scientific image" that sounds like it's worth studying continuously and more in depth rather than taking it for what it is ... just a big ol' hunk of ice. Who knows? Maybe by studying it, we'll cure cancer ... or something, as well as spend some hard earned taxpayer money along the way.

You see it as just a big hunk of ice? Gee! I see valleys to explore, mountains to be climbed, caverns to be examine, a blue sky to observe from the surface and a permanent human base.

 

[AV1611VET]

Poor Pluto.

S'okay, Pluto.

You're worth more than any ten scientists today.

 

[AV1611VET]

Even a Barnum and Baily type science fair exhibition with scientists dressed up in the Cartoon Pluto outfits and attempting a few cartwhhels might keep the cash flowing. Worth a try.

They're already dressed up.

Wolves in sheeps' clothing.

Why do you think their lab coats are white?

(Other than to mock Christianity's white robes, that is?)

 

[Radrook]

They're already dressed up.

Wolves in sheeps' clothing.

Why do you think their lab coats are white?

(Other than to mock Christianity's white robes, that is?)

In what way are they wolves?

 

[brinny]

S'okay, Pluto.

You're worth more than any ten scientists today.

Awwwwwww....i agree.

Yes, Pluto is wunnerful and we love him.

 

[AV1611VET]

In what way are they wolves?

Evolution is the philosophy of Witchcraft and can lead to Atheism