Should Pluto Be a Planet Essay Example
The “planet” Pluto was discovered by scientist in 1930. Even then, there was controversy over whether this little ball of ice should be considered a planet. It was decided it should, mainly because since the gravity of the eighth planet, Neptune, was found because it was tugging on the seventh planet, Uranus, and then Pluto was found when its gravity tugged on the orbit of Neptune. Pluto was just a continuation in the time-tested practice of discovering the existence of planets from the behavior of other objects in space.
However, people have proved many various reasons why this should not be enough to keep considering Pluto the ninth planet in out solar system. After researching these reasons extensively, I have decided that really, Pluto should not be considered a planet. Here are some reasons why I think what I do.
Look at the composition of the first eight planets compared to Pluto. The first four planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are rocky in composition, and the next four, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are gas planets. Pluto fits in with neither of these categories, rocky or gassy.
Pluto is made up mostly of ice and rock, but not enough rock of count as a rocky planet, plus all the rocky planets are near the sun. Pluto is the farthest “planet” from the sun of the current nine known planets. In fact, less than 1/3 of Pluto is rock. It really just is this tiny little ice ball floating out in the depths of space. If there were other planets made primarily of ice too, maybe Pluto would fit in more, but as far as we know it is the only planet made of mainly ice, which just doesn’t fit in with the other planets. So one reason not to consider Pluto a planet is; the different composition of the planet from all the other planets.
Another main reason not to consider Pluto a planet is the size of the planet. Pluto is ridiculously small. It has a diameter of only 1,440 miles. That is 1/6 of the Earths, or less than half of Mercury’s diameter,
However, people have proved many various reasons why this should not be enough to keep considering Pluto the ninth planet in out solar system. After researching these reasons extensively, I have decided that really, Pluto should not be considered a planet. Here are some reasons why I think what I do.
Look at the composition of the first eight planets compared to Pluto. The first four planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are rocky in composition, and the next four, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are gas planets. Pluto fits in with neither of these categories, rocky or gassy.
Pluto is made up mostly of ice and rock, but not enough rock of count as a rocky planet, plus all the rocky planets are near the sun. Pluto is the farthest “planet” from the sun of the current nine known planets. In fact, less than 1/3 of Pluto is rock. It really just is this tiny little ice ball floating out in the depths of space. If there were other planets made primarily of ice too, maybe Pluto would fit in more, but as far as we know it is the only planet made of mainly ice, which just doesn’t fit in with the other planets. So one reason not to consider Pluto a planet is; the different composition of the planet from all the other planets.
Another main reason not to consider Pluto a planet is the size of the planet. Pluto is ridiculously small. It has a diameter of only 1,440 miles. That is 1/6 of the Earths, or less than half of Mercury’s diameter,