Is Pluto a Planet?
Many people say that Pluto is not a planet, while some others state that it is. Pluto is a planet, as it contains many of the characteristics.
According to Discovery Education, Pluto has two of the three characteristics of being a planet. But, Discovery Education also said that the so-called “must-haves” to be a planet, were not established before 2006. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist stated the analogy that a chihuahua is still considered a dog, so Pluto should still be considered a planet no matter the size. According to Space.com, Stern also replied to the many people who were saying that Pluto is not a planet because of its “neighbors” by saying that “A river is a river, independent of whether there are other rivers
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In fact, there were no set rules for what made a planet a planet until the IAU stated them in 2006. Therefore, this means that there are no exact things that define a planet, and that some should be established by many different groups, not just one. Stern’s analogies show that there are many other things that are still considered one of their species or “kind” no matter the size or “neighbors”. This shows that things should be based on its qualities and characteristics rather than size. Pluto does indeed have moons, which is the same as many of the other celestial bodies that are indeed considered a planet. Also, the IAU’s definition is not necessarily true to all of the planets in our solar system. This shows us that the criteria cannot be met for all of the other bodies stated as a planet so therefore, the rules either have to be changed, or else, Earth is also not considered a planet. Finally, some say that Pluto is also too far out to be a planet, but, from 1979 and 1999, Pluto was closer to the Sun than Neptune. This shows that if Pluto was considered too far away to be a planet, then Neptune could not be considered a planet as it would be too far away from the