Monday, November 9, 2009

What is a Planet?

To define a planet it has to orbit a star, have enough gravitational pull to control objects in its neighborhood- it should have a clear orbit, and the planet should be spherical.
Pluto is no longer a planet. Pluto follows under all the criteria of being a planet except the fact that it is not have enough gravitational pull to control objects in its neighborhood. Pluto is considered a dwarf planet. There are many other planets that are dwarf. But because of Pluto not being able to have enough gravitational pull it has made Pluto no longer a planet.
The Earth's Moon is not a planet. It is not a planet because it does not have a gravitational pull and does not orbit stars. Earth's Moon would orbit around Earth.

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