The Plutonian Conclusion
Pluto deserves its rightful place as the 9th planet out from the sun. Given all of the information provided in the previous pages of this website, Pluto is "new territory" for astronomers to gather data regarding this mysterious world for years after the New Horizon's flyby.
The following reasons why Pluto should remain as a planet are listed below. If Pluto is compared with other planets, then...
Mercury's orbit is inclined seven degrees above the ecliptic the same way Pluto's orbit is inclined seventeen degrees. Mercury has little or no atmosphere, and so does Pluto. If New Horizons finds a stable atmosphere on Pluto, then should astronomers reclassify Mercury, too?
Uranus's axial tilt is 98°. Its poles point toward the sun every forty-one years. Pluto's axial tilt is 122°. This odd tilt could be due to a collision that hit these worlds in the distant past. Should astronomers reclassify this world as well?
According to the IAU, the third definition does not apply to Pluto. The picture below, courtesy of the Celestia program, proves that Pluto follows the third definition without doubt. By the definition of "clearing the neighborhood of its orbit", planets such as Jupiter and Earth do not qualify. There are many Near-Earth Asteroids. Jupiter wanders through the Jovian and Trojan asteroid belt, some of which end up becoming captured by the giant planet's gravity.
In the image directly below, the red circle is Pluto's orbit. The outermost blue circle is Neptune's orbit. PLUTO DOES NOT INTERSECT NEPTUNE'S ORBIT, NOR WILL THEY EVER COLLIDE.
Image of orbits Courtesy of Celestia Computer Program
Arrows and Blue-Green Fonts created using MicroSoft Paint by Bobby Damiano
Listed below are the positions of Pluto from 2022 through 2042. Like the other eight planets in our solar system, Pluto travels along the ecliptic. Its orbit is eccentric to the degree that in about fifty to seventy-five years, it will travel south of the ecliptic in the Constellation of Cetus, The Whale. This is the location of the other distant object Eris. Unfortunately, Eris only wanders through a small portion of the zodiac where Pluto covers mostly all of them!
Image Above Courtesy of Martin J. Powell, 2024
Obviously, Pluto orbits our sun. Granted, most of the objects in our solar system orbit the Sun, including comets and asteroids. Pluto travels mostly along the same path as our Sun. Most of the comets and asteroids do not.
Pluto supports an atmosphere, at least until it reaches its farthest point from our Sun. Some astronomers believe that at that point, the atmosphere will freeze until it reaches its closest approach again. There may be a stable atmosphere on Pluto that can be detected by New Horizons next year, during the probe's closest approach.
Artist's Conception of Pluto from the Surface of its largest moon Charon above the Horizon.
This world has five known moons, and the count could increase when New Horizons arrives.
Pluto's Family of Moons, Based on their Perspective Mythology
Photo taken from The New Horizons Spacecraft, Courtesy of NASA
Pluto is spherical, and it travels along the ecliptic plane of our solar system.
The photo on the left was taken of Pluto by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2000,
Courtesy of Eliot Young (SwRI) et al., NASA
The image on the right was taken of Pluto's Position in Capricornus Courtesy of Stellarium Program
Arrows and Blue-Green Fonts created using MicroSoft Paint by Bobby Damiano
The Exponential Model of our Solar System is shown below. This graph is based on Kepler's 3rd Law. It states that, based on the planets' distance from the Sun in Astronomical Units (Earth-Sun distance: 1 A.U. is 93,000,000 miles), an observer is able to calculate the time it takes for each planet to orbit the Sun once. Based on the distances between Jupiter and Pluto in this picture, the distances are further apart from each other. What this means for Pluto and outer solar system objects within the Kuiper Belt is that they have cleared the neighborhood of their orbits! It should be noted that Pluto will not make a complete orbit around the sun from the time of its discovery until 2178.
NASA is still gathering data following the flyby of New Horizons! Two states, New Mexico and Illinois, in which Pluto's discoverer resided for years, have in their by-laws that Pluto is the 9th planet. Whatever the case, each and every planet in our Solar System is unique in every aspect. The opinion of the astronomy community and all of the public's opinion regarding this enigma may change next year. Until then, many people, such as myself, will always remember this mysterious world as the 9th planet in our Solar System!
Coming Soon from Stars and Science Austin!
Pluto: The Solar System's New Horizon!
Pluto Is A Planet!
