New definition can add 102 planets to the solar system

An American scientist proposed a new definition of bringing Pluto back to the list of planets in the solar system.

Kirby Runyon, planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University, USA, points out the debate about the location of Pluto according to a new planet definition at the Planet and Moon Science Conference in Houston. , USA, on March 20-24.

According to Runyon, not only Pluto but also some celestial bodies in the asteroid belt as well as many other moons can be classified as planets. Runyon estimates that about 102 planets can be added to the solar system based on new geological criteria.

Currently the solar system is classified with 8 planets.(Photo: NASA).

"I am interested in the intrinsic nature of a celestial body. That is what happens on the surface and in its core. A celestial body is flying around another planet or the Sun is not important to me , " Independent quoted Runyon.

According to Runyon, the planet by definition of "geophysical" is anything large enough to gravely pull it into a sphere, reaching a hydrostatic equilibrium. But the object must not be too large to undergo nuclear fusion and become a star.

Scientists can divide the planet into subclasses of moon planets such as Europa and Titan, rocky planets like Earth and Mars, giant gas planets like Jupiter and Saturn, onions. ice crystals like Eris and Pluto.

In 2006, Pluto's International Astronomical Society (IAU) removed the list of planets in the solar system and ranked it as "dwarf planet".

The decision comes after scientists agree on the criteria to classify a planet as a planet: it must fly in orbit around the Sun, the size must be large enough to have a nearly circular shape, the fund The religion must be separate from other objects. Under these criteria, Pluto is removed from the planetary group due to its flat elliptical orbit cut through Neptune's orbit.