Sarah O’Hara
Planet Properties
In this report, I will explaining the properties of objects in our solar system and how they are grouped. Before this investigation, I had barely any knowledge about the properties of planets and objects in our solar system, but I learned valuable information through research from different websites, and discussions within my group and my entire class. My report will answer the question, “How can we group objects in the Solar System according to their properties?”
Methods of Collecting Data
Throughout my investigation, I was required to collect data in order to make sure that my findings, claim, and evidence were as accurate as possible. There are different ways in which I recorded my data. In order to
…show more content…
When reviewing the distance, mass, density, and diameter planets and the objects in our Solar System it becomes clear why they are in each group. For example, Mercury is a planet in group 1 and it is closer to the sun, has a high density, is composed of rock and heavy metals, and has a low mass.
Anomalies/Inconsistencies in Data: When investigating the other dwarf planets, many of them had several similarities, however, there were two that were slightly different than the others. Both Ceres and Vesta had different distances compared to the other dwarf planets. Ceres’s distance was 2.8 AU while Vesta’s was 2.36 AU. This is different compared to the other dwarf planets which have a much larger distance. For example, Sedna has 86 AU, Eris has a distance of 96.4 AU, and Haumea has a distance of 43.13 AU. This became an inconsistency, however, we did group these two planets in the third group. Despite this anomaly, all of their other properties fit the requirements for group three, such as mass, diameter, and density. Placing both Ceres and Vesta into group three was the best option compared to group 1 or 2 because the distance would be the only inconsistency when placed in group 3. If we were to place them into another group, factors such as diameter, density, and mass wouldn’t be
Speaking of Jupiter, according to our class notes, Jupiter’s gravitational prevented the Asteroid Belt from forming into a new planet . This keeps our solar system in order because if the Asteroid Belt became a planet, Mars would be pulled into the Asteroid Belt’s orbit, causing all of our planets to either go into another planet’s orbit or worse. We have the Asteroid Belt because it is the remnants of the formation of the planets. Lastly, in the book Energy in Earth’s Systems, the text says, “Gravity kept pulling matter toward the center of the disk” (Energy in Earth’s Systems, 24). This made the matter create a planet, and if the matter is really hot and made out of gases, it will be a star. Therefore, the gravity is pulling planets in and creating new planets, impacting our solar
Are you familiar with the latest news that Pluto is no longer a planet; that it now has dwarf planetary status and essentially a celestial body of ice? How about the New Horizons mission to Pluto to discover more about its surroundings and environment? Perhaps you heard about these through social media, such as a shared post from a friend on Facebook, or alternatively through scientific journals and articles. Pluto’s planetary status was decided by the International Astronomical Union (further referred to as IAU) that met in Prague in 2006. They came up with a list of criteria that a celestial body needed to meet in order to be considered a planet. The first criterion is that it has to be orbiting around the Sun; the second, it has to be heavy enough for its gravity to overcome external forces so that it has a round shape, and lastly, it has to have gravitational dominance in order to clear its neighborhood of other celestial bodies in its orbit. Pluto fails to accomplish the last criterion of clearing its neighborhood because Pluto shares an environment that consists of numerous celestial bodies which make up Kuiper’s Belt.
Every planet in the Universe has it’s own place including Earth. Earth is located inside the galaxy called the Milky Way, which includes millions of planets, including the solar system. Therefore up above Earth, in space, is the solar system in which the Earth resigns. This solar system consists of eight planets, one sun and one dwarf planet. Each of the planets or in Pluto’s case, a dwarf planet, are different sizes and have a different distance from the Sun. Earth, for example is one of the smaller planets in the solar system but bigger than Mars, Mercury and Venus. Mars is about two times smaller than Earth but Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are bigger than Earth. Since Pluto is a dwarf planet it is also smaller than Earth. Interestingly
In 2006 at the XXVIth General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, astronomers began to vote on just what a mass needed to consist of in order to be classified as a planet. There were three different
Pluto is smaller than any other planet and smaller than Earth’s moon. It’s dense and rocky but its nearest neighbors are the gaseous Jovian planets. It is due to this that it is believed that Pluto originated elsewhere in space and got caught in the sun’s gravity. Pluto’s orbit is erratic, all other planets orbit the sun in a flat plane.
Furthermore, Pluto is similar to several planets but has been proved to be smaller than the Earth's moon, therefore named as a dwarf planet. This discovery caused Pluto to lose its status as a planet.
A dwarf planet can be described in many different ways. Some define it as an object revolving around the sun, that is large enough to be surrounded by its own gravity but is not large enough to be gravitationally dominant in its orbital area. You can also describe Dwarf planets as roundish objects in outer space that revolve around the Sun, but Dwarf planets are not moons. Dwarf planets are a lot like regular planets because they revolve around the Sun. A Major difference is that where Dwarf planets orbit the sun that area is full of a lot of comets and asteroids in their path and around them. A few Dwarf planets found in our solar system are Pluto, Eris, Ceres and Makemake, and they orbit in the outer solar system beyond Neptune or the
Earth may not be the only planet harboring life. Beyond our solar system, there are planets with similar and differing characteristics from Earth. These planets orbit stars other than our sun and are called ‘Exoplanets.’ The first confirmed exoplanet was discovered on January 9th, 1992. As of early 2018, there have been 3,705 exoplanets found and confirmed. Scientific evidence has proven the common existence of exoplanets by observing the planet’s transit in front of the star. As the planet travels between the telescope and its star, the light from the star dims, allowing scientists to determine the size of the planet. Scientists are also able to determine the distance between a star and a planet based on how long it takes the planet to orbit its star. One of these possibly habitable planet is Gliese
We have always trust scientist in every aspect because they are the ones who define mostly everything that we know like a “triangle” and “energy” because that’s their responsibility. When they gather to come up with the classifications on what makes a Planet an actual “Planet” they had background knowledge and they had their research to backup their decision and the new discoveries they had made since 1930 until 2006. Why should Pluto be consider a Planet when the other objects they have found throughout the years with the same classification have being label differently? In order for a planet to become a Planet it has to have something special and unique otherwise every single rock they find in outer space would be classifies as a planet and in a few years the word “Planet” itself would just be another word without a special
Astronomers now label Pluto as a “dwarf planet” because it does not meet all of the criteria to be a planet. It is also not alone in its orbit; it is part of a wide group of small-scale objects that have been detected revolving around the Sun beyond Neptune.
Starting off with no secrets, Yaeger tells the viewer of this article what Will Grundy of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz believes about Pluto. Will Grundy shares an unpopular opinion on Pluto which is stated in the magazine, “Pluto is a Planet” (Page 4), and he seeks to prove this to everyone. Now, why would Pluto not be a planet? The article addresses this question excellently, as explained by the provided definition of a planet originally, “The idea of a planet as a roundish, rocky or gaseous body that orbits the sun stuck, until 2006.” Although, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) changed this definition in exchange for a more narrow criteria for a ‘planet’, this is what led to Pluto being downgraded to a dwarf planet because, unlike its other orbiting masses, Pluto doesn’t consume or fling any objects into space.
This semester in physical science I have realized numerous things, yet what I discovered to be the most fascinating was the point at which we discussed the earth 's planetary group. I discovered that the earth 's planetary group has numerous things in it, however as large as the earth 's planetary group is it just has one stay which is called Sol which is otherwise called the sun. The earth 's planetary group is 4.568billion years of age, and it comprises of eight planets. The IAU is right now perceiving five midget planets, however of the five there are perhaps a few hundred more to be named. At this point there are 431 common satellites, and of those 173 of them are planetary and 258 of them are named minor. There are 659,212 referred to lunar planets and 3296 comets as of September 25, 2014. Our earth 's planetary group just has nineteen round satellites in it starting now. In the event that I were to rundown the planets by separation from the sun, they would be: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The closest planetary framework is Alpha Centauri which is 4.37 light years away. As specified before the midget planets and they are: Cereces, Pluto, Humea, Makemake, and Eris. The orbital rate of our earth 's planetary group is as of now recorded as being 220km/s, and the orbital period is 220-250 MY. Our seeing about the universe and our spot in it has changed about whether. New data can make us reevaluate what we know and reconsider how we
I would not have reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet because after discovering Eris and seeing their similar properties, I feel as if they belong in the same category. In fact, from the information I’ve read, Eris is more massive than Pluto. Pluto was listed as 2,400 km and Eris was at 2,600 km (Cain, 2015, p. 1). I feel as if the International Astronomical Union has come to the best conclusion for differentiating between a planet and a dwarf planet. According to Cain (2015), a planet “need to orbit around the sun, have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape, and be the dominant gravitational body in their orbit” (p. 1). Pluto is not the dominant body in its orbit. I also feel as if Pluto get more recognition from being in the
The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science, mythology, and religion. Several planets in the Solar System can be seen with the naked eye. These were regarded by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, incorporating a number of disparate objects. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of planetary mass based on where or what they orbit. Although eight of the planetary bodies discovered before 1950 remain "planets" under the modern definition, some celestial bodies, such as Ceres, Pallas,
The terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These four planets are the planets that are closest to the sun. Terrestrial means earthlike; therefore, these planets are all earthlike because they have a solid ground. The terrestrial planets are the middle school years. The knowledge learned here orbits the sun. If the knowledge learned at the sun is not retained, a student may have a