The Problem With Pluto Being a Planet 

I love Pluto regardless. And let's face it Pluto doesn't know or care how we classify it.

Humans: Pluto deserves to be a planet! Makemake, Ceres, Sedna, Eris: *Am I a joke to you?*

There are still so many people who do not understand why Pluto was reclassified even 13 years after the change was made. Thanks for making this video to help educate them.

People get so emotional about Pluto, but Ceres had it worse. I love the dwarf planet category, it just proves how much richer than we thought our solar system is, and it also gave Ceres and the other dwarf planets a nice place of their own.

Being a dwarf planet does not take anything away from pluto it's still a magnificent celestial body and I love it even if they call it a whale in the sky next.

Don't worry pluto, you will always be a planet to me. A dwarf planet, but a planet nonetheless

Pluto fans should go visit Lowell Observatory in Flaggstaff, AZ. You can get up close to the telescope used to find Pluto. The guy manually tracked his fixed point for hours at a time to get the pictures on the glass plates (you can see those also). Its worth the trip! Really fun and informative, not to mention it's a beautiful place. And it's only 30 minutes from Meteor Crater!

Pluto's classification always been a mystery for me and thanks to this video, I've got answers to most of my questions. Thanks Alex, for this video. :)

“Uranis was discovered which was revolutionary”. Aren’t all planets “revolutionary”?

Everybody's looking at this wrong- Pluto isn't going to "clear it's orbit"; it's hanging with the rest of the asteroids in it's crib, they're buds.

pluto will always be a planet in our hearts

I'm literally fascinated with all things astronomy and outer space etc. Just looking in the night sky on a clear night without light pollution, there's nothing like it. I just can't get enough of learning about the topic. Anybody else feel the same or similar?

The first picture of the planets showing in the night sky is fascinating *. *

Clear cut, simple, and concise. Nicely done.

So if Pluto was a planet this would be the solar system: Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Ceres Jupiter Ganymade Callisto Io Europa Saturn Titan Enceladus Rhea Uranus Neptune Triton Pluto Charon Eris Makemake

I just discovered all of that you said on the video other day, you really made a resumed beautifully explained video, thank you for your hard time doing something that people just can't understand because it's not simplified.

Universe: hello Pluto take a seat and close the door behind you. Pluto: what is this regarding to?? Universe: it's about your last day on being a planet.

Buddy I love your videos.much appreciated.thank you

Very satisfying answer to a controversial and popular question. Keep up the good work and all the best for future.🍀😇

This channel is awesome, thank you.

Pluto should be proud of being the first in its category,... Great Video and thanks again.

I really love your videos! Tks!

The problem with the 2006 definition is that it can only be used to classify planets in OUR solar system. Now that astronomers are discovering planets in other solar systems (even estimating their sizes), they cannot tell if a planet has "cleared its orbit." Moreover, even our solar system has outlier objects within certain planetary orbits (including Earth). What does it mean to "clear its orbit" anyway? I would prefer a definition that is much more simple: A.) Has sufficient mass to assume a spherical shape; and, B.) Has a radius of at least 1000 km. In our solar system, this would include Pluto and, most likely, Eris. It would not include Ceres. However, in other solar systems, this same definition could be used -- even if we don't know the orbit of that planet around its nearest star OR if the planet itself is deemed a rogue planet.

My boyhood interest in Astronomy began at about the age of 9, when I read a children's book called "The Search For Planet X" and learned about Clyde Tombaugh and his discovery of Pluto. I've often wondered what Tombaugh would have thought about Pluto's "demotion" to dwarf planet. Of course we'll never know, but my own feeling is that, after some initial disappointment, he would have been excited! Excited that Pluto didn't turn out to be merely another "planet", and an oddball one at that, but the first to be discovered object in a vast new category of objects in what we now know as the Kuiper Belt. Actually, Pluto sort of straddles the boundary between these two categories, and could probably be regarded as both a Kuiper Belt Object AND a Planet. How cool is that? By the way, since Neptune hasn't cleared out it's orbit either (Pluto is still there), I'd like to know why Neptune is still considered a planet? Might makes right?

4:17 congrats Ceres 👏👏👏👏

How can anyone not like pluto! Look at its beautiful and weird colors! Its good that there are rules so that we can correctly categorise the celestial bodies! Nice video btw!

Magnificent and educational, thanks.

Love your videos man

Great as always.

Thanks for sharing!!

This channel is also underrated... Just like Pluto.. LOVE this channel..!❤️❤️💖💖

I wonder if some people in the 1850s were pissed about the "demotions" of Ceres, Vesta, Juno and Pallas? Maybe there was a "Make Ceres a Planet Again" movement.

While Pluto is not technically a planet anymore, dwarf planet means we are continually discovering new things out there. I think Pluto can hold its own with the fact that it has five moons, an atmosphere of sorts, unique geology and surface features, and a crazy orbit to name a few. I’m so glad we got to see it up close with the New Horizons probe.

Im wondering if a planet like Venus, Earth, Mercury or Mars would be replaced with Plutos orbit, if they would be able to clear its neighbourhood. Because if they couldnt, the definition of what a planet is, is really vague. I mean consider, that Jupiter collected most of the mass in the solar system. So perhaps we would have lots of debris in our solar system without him.

At 3:08, Quaoar is listed as having "Weywot" as its moon. Sounds like some astronomers were analyzing the photos and said, "Wait, what ?" :)

By the definition given there, Earth and Jupiter are not planets either as they have not cleared their orbits. I suspect that definition was created with the sole intention of excluding Pluto. After all, the orbit of Pluto is so elliptical, that by that definition Pluto must clear Neptune from its orbit as well. And even an object as large as Jupiter, in the same orbit would have difficulty "clearing" that orbit.

Either way, it should be awarded honorary planethood, so it can attend planetary reunions

I bet the "Pluto is still a planet" people also think fire is still an element.

Excellent video, as always. I was just telling my four year old about Pluto and Ceres (she has just learned about the solar system in school). This video was posted at the right time for her :)

So will Pluto clear its surroundings or not? Maybe it is a future planet?

Pluto will remember this

Can you do a video on all the dwarf planets in our solar system and where they are exactly? Thanks.

One naturally wonders whether New Horizons would even have happened if NASA had known Pluto’s demotion was in the offing. It was probably just as deflating to the NH team to realize that the raison detre for the mission-a fly-by of the ninth planet-had been snatched from them.

Pluto sure hasn‘t cleared its orbit. But do you remember Shoemaker-Levy-9 @ Jupiter? Or Chelyabinsk? All this happened because neither Jupiter, Mars, nor Earth have cleared their orbits! Well played, IAU.

Why are people emotional about classifications?

I grew up being taught in school that Pluto was a planet, dwarf or not, it'll always be a planet to me. Pluto is the Tyrion Lannister of our planets, cast out of his family just for being a dwarf, he didn't ask to be made this way when the solar system was forming!

Astrum, thank you for making such good content. I'm going back through your what have we found series. The context as well as the real images you show is as enthralling as it is entertaining. I'm a casual science nerd and am astounded at the amount of breathtaking imagery you have managed to introduced me to.

I love this channel.

Pluto always is a planet to me. Counting juno, vespa, ceres and others yes those can be called something else like Pluto but even Pluto has more moons than Earth and Mars combined! (maybe picked up in the kuiperbelt tho). I also read a book on some genius math that somehow exactly predicts the planets distance from the sun with just one formula. It counts from mercury to pluto (going from Jupiter to Saturn directly) and even pointing out that Planet X should exist. I just see many differences between Pluto and the other small objects, making it just fitting to be a planet because it stands out of the other Kuiper belt objects.. There even is a photo by New Horizons looking like Pluto has a very thin atmosphere.

i love Pluto the most thanks to your New Horizons series Alex. Its unique and the best looking amongst them all.

Its OK :) Pluto isn't upset, it still has a heart (1:49 lower right), a BIG one, may be made of ice, but still nice!

I heard some scientists say, during the initial debate timeframe, that if you took the Earth and the Moon, and dropped then down where Pluto is now, that Earth would be reclassified as a minor planet, which would just be silly. The objection I have to Pluto being reclassified is that it just seems like human arrogance and not wanting to count too high when we discuss how many planets we have (apparently we can't go past ten for some reason), so we find ways of classification that aren't really valid, just to make us happy, in a universe that has no obligation to make humans happy.

If somebody asks me what are the planets in the solar system, I will still say 'Mercury, Venus ..... Pluto'. I remember well (when I was very young) a pocket book on the planets (by Sir Patrick Moore of course) that had a double page layout listing all the planets and associated data on them. On the data for Pluto there were a lot of question marks (meaning unknown) and I always wondered what Pluto was like. Now I know what Pluto looks like, and more (thank you New Horizons) . Great video as always.

@0:21 Vesta and Uranus are also naked eye visible in the right conditions

I enjoyed this video 👍👍

You didn’t mention how many planets haven’t cleared there path and have asteroids that orbit along their orbital trajectory, so this classification is highly disputed.

Thank you, Alex! ♇

Cut a little off the low mid (or upper bass) in your recording eq on your voice. You have a likeable voice but this 250hz "boom" is tiring at length. Maybe a more expensive mic might fix the problem (or backing away from the mic an inch or two) - other than that; keep up the good work and interesting topics.,

It's more a reclassification than a "demotion", and it's not like Pluto has feelings anyway. I don't understand why people are so bent out of shape over it. I'm a huge fan of Pluto and I don't feel sad that it has a different label.

If the new "clear" definition of what a planet is would apply to all planets, that would be a good start. There is even a LOT of stuff in Jupiters orbit. Basically they decided which are planets and then tried to engineer rules that covered that. Where for example they had to do a handbrake turn around mercury when it came to size.

I've always had trouble with the idea of a planet being defined almost entirely by orbit alone. I mean a Jupiter-sized planet could be orbiting in a belt of gas giant sized objects and it wouldn't technically be a planet. What about a Jupiter sized planet orbiting perpendicular to the orbital plane of the rest of the planets? Since the planets orbit the barycenter outside our sun technically are any of our planets really planets since they orbit an area just outside of the sun? That's why I would rather have the definition of planet rely more on geologic definitions (like a differentiated interior) rather than orbit alone as orbits makes the definition of planets inconsistent. Yes orbit should play a role but not predominantly.

I love this channel. God Bless my friend!!!!!Keep up the good work....

So would the planets of the Trappist-1 system be dwarf planets? Since they orbit their red dwarf star so close, they have not cleared their orbits. Trappist-1c is only 1.6 times farther from Trappist-1b than our moon is from Earth. Is that far enough to clear the orbital path?

Pluto is a dwarf planet, Jupiter is a gas giant planet, Earth is a rocky planet. Earth is way more similar to Pluto than it is to Jupiter. It's fine to say that Pluto is a dwarf planet, but if you're going to use that to say that Pluto isn't a planet, it would make more sense to group Earth along with Pluto in the "Not Planets" group, than to group it with Jupiter and the gas giants.

After New Horizons, Pluto became the most beautiful object in the Solar System.

Great story: not too long and not too short! Love the channel! ❤️👍🏻👌🧐

Hi when are we getting the next opportunity video

Planet/dwarf planet. Tomayto/tomahto. I care not about any decision by the IAU- Pluto will always remain #9 to me!

For cultural and nostalgic reasons Pluto will always be a planet in my heart ❤️

nice video

But Neptune hasn't cleared its orbit as well if Pluto's orbit crosses it. So how is Neptune a planet? (Thanks for the correction)

will there be another Q&A session when you reach 200k subs?

Pluto still loves us whatever we call it, see that big heart?

It's a planet, and the best planet.

Pluto is still a planet for me .. because this object very active geological surface, Lots of interesting discoveries like volcanoes, water ice of mountain range, thick atmosphere.. Pluto is my 2nd favorite planet after Earth ..

Pluto isn't a major planet, it's a minor planet, but still a planet! Our solar system has 8 major planets, around 5 minor planets, 19 major\ round moons, 175 minor moons, billions of comets and asteroids, thousands of artificial satellites, all orbiting a single star ( the sun ).

do you have a vid about the halley's comet ?

Pluto is always a planet no matter what.

Make Pluto great again.

This is what I want to know: why is it that Ceres, Pluto and Eris are not planets yet a Bus sized rock orbiting a gas Giant is considered a Moon?

Doesn't matter that it's a Dwarf Planet, my money is still on Pluto being revealed as a secret Targaryan...

Another problem is that Neptune can't be a planet either because, like Pluto, it hasn't cleared its orbit.

Your voice lowers my blood pressure.

Pluto will always be a planet to me, that is what i was taught at school..

Congrats on the promotion Ceres, but you gotta wait for the next one

It IS a planet. You've been updated.

Because it supposedly doesn't clear its path of debris like a major planet is supposed to do. Which seems to be made up reasoning to me, and may even be irrelevant. Pluto is a planet, and a powerful one at that. It maintains a satellite bigger, in relation to its own size, than The Moon is in relation to Earth. Moreover, Pluto may be unique as the only double planet system in our solar system. Pluto and Charon are actually in orbit around each other, and are tidally locked to each other. That kind of thing doesn't happen by accident. Finally, Pluto is geologically active enough that it is far more of a vital, living plant than Uranus, Mercury, or Mars. It doesn't have the perpetually ancient, unchanging surface features we typicalky see on such dead and dying worlds. In fact, Pluto is so active, and dynamic, that might be why it doesn't clear its path. Rather than pushing away, it pulls objects into its path. I've always believed Pluto was responsible for the perturbations first noted in Neptune's orbit. I'll never believe otherwise.

damn i remember when i was born in pluto but i moved to THE U.S when i was 2

When the sun has a CME , the planets seem to move around ever so slightly and then spring back to their spots. What causes them to hold their circumstances? Why can’t we feel the nudge ? Could this explain the tidal events in the Atlantic & Pacific off the coasts of Brazil and Chile?

One of the patrons is Dr. Mantis Tobogan, lmao omg I'm dead

So, it basically comes down to position. Wouldnt Mercury become a dwarf planet, while Pluto becomes a planet again if the two switched orbits?

I think Carl Sagan would disagree

1:27 - Early footage from the game Elite Dangerous?

Yo you can't say "dwarf planet" without "planet"

I have a hard time with the International Astronomical Union's definition of a planet. Requirement C "has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit" has two problems. First, there are tons of objects in the orbit of most planets. Jupiter, for example has Lagrange points that are full of stuff as well as those pesky asteroids floating anywhere from inside the orbit of the Earth to outside the orbit of Jupiter. If we looked hard enough I bet we'd find many small objects around Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as well. Second, most definitions of astronomical objects describe the object itself, not what surrounds the object or how the object affects its surroundings. Lastly, what is the aversion to having many planets? Is there some reason why we must keep the definition of a planet "pure" or limit the number of planets to an amount that you can keep in your head? I am fine with the classification of types of planets, I believe that helps people understand and see the common or disparate natures of objects. But it seems to me that the motivations behind the reclassification are emotional or at the very least unscientific.

I'm not sure they mean when they say "has cleared the neighborhood around other planets". What does that mean?

Pluto is a planet. Fight me.

I don’t care what anyone says. If it can be a planet, it can be a planet again. Planet. Planet planet planet.

Poor pluto

I'd love to see a video on the orbit of Pluto compared to Neptune, as there are times when it's closer to the Sun than Neptune is. Will there be a point where Neptune would be close enough to Pluto to mess with its orbit or make it a part of its moons? Or throw it to space?