The Little Planet that Couldn’t, Pluto’s fall from the Big 9. Pluto. The last of the nine large objects that orbits the sun was removed from the list of planets. Pluto was removed from the planet list and was classified as a dwarf plant. This not only changed countless textbooks across the globe, it has removed a little piece from the hearts of all that learned and loved the last little guy in line; far, far across the solar system. “Smaller than the Earth’s moon, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was considered the ninth planet. A girl in Britain, then 11 years old is credited with naming Pluto after the Roman god of the underworld.” (Plant No More) This discovery increased the number of known planets that orbited the sun to nine. In 2005 the discovery of Eris invoked the possibility of a tenth planet. Eris being farther from the sun than the planet Pluto; was larger as well as a moon.
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The problem was that Pluto also has an inclined orbit, tilting 17 degrees relative to Earths plane.” (Zachar, Kendler) Between Mars and Jupiter, inside of the Kuiper Belt, there are numerous objects that are larger than the planet Pluto. Some even have their own moons. Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta were discovered inside the Kuiper Belt, all with relative spherical shapes. This would increase the number of planets to over twenty. With the discovery of a possible tenth planet, astronomers had to reassess what the definition of a planet
The problem was that Pluto also has an inclined orbit, tilting 17 degrees relative to Earths plane.” (Zachar, Kendler) Between Mars and Jupiter, inside of the Kuiper Belt, there are numerous objects that are larger than the planet Pluto. Some even have their own moons. Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta were discovered inside the Kuiper Belt, all with relative spherical shapes. This would increase the number of planets to over twenty. With the discovery of a possible tenth planet, astronomers had to reassess what the definition of a planet