FREE ESSAY ON PLANET X

PLANET X

Planet X 
Is Pluto really a planet? Researchers have been trying to determine whether Pluto is
really big enough to be a planet. Over the last few years, the gathered information on
Pluto and the discovery of an increasing number of other objects in the outer solar
system have been discussed within a group of astronomers (called minor-planets). The
planet Pluto is not given the respect of other planets and some have designation to be
changed to 'minor planet'. Astronomer Brian Marsden of Harvard Smithsonian Center said if
Pluto were discovered seventy years ago, it would be considered a minor planet number. A
minor planet is a term used to describe asteroids and most astronomers agree that Pluto
is no asteroid.
Marsden said it's not a demotion for Pluto to be referred to as the 10,000th minor
planet, it is an honor. 
Some astronomers do not agree with the Brian Marsden theory. Pluto deserves to be
considered more than just a minor planet. Most astronomers would probably consider
stripping Pluto of is status akin to stripping [the U.S. state of] Connecticut or Vermont
of statehood because Texas and Alaska later joined. It was estimated that Pluto contained
mass of eleven Earth but dropped rapidly over time. This is what is giving the
astronomers a second opinion about being a planet.
Pluto is about 1,500 miles in diameter, larger than the largest asteroid. It is known to
have density of two grams per cubic centimeter, so is estimated to be sixty percent rock
and forty percent ices of frozen nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and water. Pluto is
tilted 122.5 degrees on its axis. Because of the shape of Pluto's orbit, it actually
slips inside of Neptune's orbit once every 248 Earth years for a period of twenty years.
Pluto, the planet farthest from the sun, is smaller than Earth's moon. And while other
'major planets' have roughly circular orbits, Pluto carves out a sweeping ellipse that
frequently takes it closer than Neptune to the sun. Pluto has one natural satellite,
Charon, which is half the size of Pluto. Because Pluto and Charon are comparable is size,
many scientists consider them to be a double plant, but many scientists don't consider
Pluto a planet at all. Studies conducted using a spectroscope have detected methane frost
on Pluto and water frost on Charon. Like Triton, Neptune's satellite, Pluto has an
atmosphere of nitrogen and methane. Pluto's atmosphere appears to extend out to include
Charon, which suggests that they may share an atmosphere. Through the Hubble Space
Telescope, Charon appears to be bluer in color than Pluto. During the time in its orbit
when Pluto is farthest from the Sun, its atmosphere condenses and falls to the surface as
frost.
Nicholson calls the Pluto debate a "'Tempest in a teapot' with little effect on the
course of solar-system research". Nicholson also states no matter what we call it, people
are not going to stop thinking about Pluto as a member of the Kuiper Belt. All the
current discussions about the origin of Pluto starts premise that Pluto is a very big
Kuiper Belt object. Transition Neptunian Objects is a new class A'Hearn wants to create
for ice balls that orbit beyond Neptune and Pluto would be Transition Neptunian Object
number 1. Does this mean Pluto has been demoted? The answer is no. Pluto will have dual
classification as a planet and a Transition Neptunian Object, at least for the time
being.