Pluto Fly-by

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Sushubh

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It looks like a planet!!

Make it a planet again!! 😀
 
Actually size does not really define a planet.

Pluto fails at third criteria of being a planet. (it suffices first two)
  1. The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
  2. The object must be massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity. More specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape of hydrostatic equilibrium.
  3. It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
Pluto is now called Dwarf Planet.

"Any moon" no matter how large it is compared to Pluto - does not pass first criteria itself.
 
pluto apparently has a very different orbit around the sun. it basically pass through orbits of other planets iirc. so it would eventually (billions of years?) crash in another planet. so it's orbit is not clear.
 

Pluto met the first two of the these criteria, but the last one proved pivotal. "Clearing the neighbourhood" means that the planet has either "vacuumed up" or ejected other large objects in its vicinity of space. In other words, it has achieved gravitational dominance.
Because Pluto shares its orbital neighbourhood with other icy Kuiper Belt Objects, the resolution effectively stripped the distant world of a planetary designation it had held for some 76 years.
Click to expand...

Why is Pluto no longer a planet? - BBC News
 
Yes 3rd point is little vague but it means that reasonably clear.

but all the planets have cleared their neighbourhoods to a much greater extent than any dwarf planet, or any candidate for dwarf planet.
Click to expand...
 

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