what is the present status of pluto as planet of the solar system?
103893
Pluto is officially a planet. Although if it were discovered today it would almost certainly NOT get planet status.\n\nBecause of all the confusion with the recent spate of Kuiper Belt Objects, the International Astronomical Union (they are in charge of naming stuff) declared Pluto a planet for historical reasons.\n\nOf course, for astronomical research it doesn't matter too much what you call it...
487505
It's actually just a large asteroid, and they haven't decided whether to call it a planet yet. Problem is, they also discovered that Pluto is just a large asteroid, and if they disacknowledge the new planet, they would have to also disacknowledge Pluto.
406851
In our Solar System?  Unlikely.  There are a bunch of things orbiting beyond Pluto that are bigger than it that could be considered planets if size were everything... although Pluto is just a large Comet that orbits on the inside of the Oort cloud.  \n\nIf there was anything beyond Neptune of any consequential size, chances are we would have detected it by now.
23405
There are still 9 according to the latests NASA reports. Although it has been found that there are several other small objects orbiting past Neptune that are similar in make up and size to Pluto- that pluto's categorization of planet will not be changed. That instead a number system is being talked about to go into effect that will number the bundles of pluto-like objects. Though again, pluto would not be changed. (First Source)\n\nIf it weren't for the stubborn desire to keep tradition- Pluto WOULD NOT be considered a planet, it just does not have the characteristics to make it one. But because tradition is very important in this society- Pluto remains a planet for now.
811501
Pluto is not a planet anymore... it is now a "dwarf planet."\n\nWhen it is outside Neptune's Orbit, it is 8 planets away from the Sun and when it is inside Neptune's Orbit, it is 7 planets away from the Sun.  \n\nPluto has a very eccentric orbit and spends 20 year chunks of time closer to the Sun than Neptune.\n\nAloha
745
There are actually several "planet like" objects beyond Pluto in an area called the Kuiper belt that contains thousands of objects that circle the sun.\n\nAt present none of them have been officially recognized as new planets. \nThe discovery of these new planet size objects including  2003 UB313 (nicknamed XENA), Sedna(in 2004) and Quaoar(in 2002 by the same team) have triggered a re-evaluation of the necessary criteria to call something a planet.\n\nIt is likely that this team at Caltech will  discover other objects to be added to the list of potential "planets" in our solar system.\n\n2003 UB313(nicknamed XENA unofficially) is larger than Pluto which leaves officials in a bit of dilemna.  How can they recognize Pluto as a planet and not this object?
120883
The newest planet was catalogued as 2003UB313 by NASA.\n\nThe new planet, which is yet to be formally named, is at least as big as Pluto and about three times farther away from the Sun than Pluto. It is very cold and dark. The planet was discovered by the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2005.
994825
I'll assume you meant "in the solar system"\n\n -  "pluto" isn't a planet! It's just a big block of dirty ice...\n\n -  The biggest planet is Jupiter, and is made of gas.\n\n -  The smallest would be mercury, which is right next to the sun.\n\n -  It would be hard to say which planet is "medem", since there are really big planets (the gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), and really small ones: (the inner planets: Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Moon, and Mars)
596644
The most recent planet discovered in our our solar system is named Cedna after the Inuit goddess of the sea. It is even smaller than Pluto.
716811
Its both ways actually-an asteroid and a planet.pluto circles the sun.this is the reason why its called a planet.but it also cuts across the eliptical orbit (if you know what i mean)while the others dont.There was a big debate on what pluto really was.anyway right now i think pluto is considered an asteroid and not a planet.
31454
Pluto's existence was mathematically predicted in 1905 by astronomer Percival Lowell. Its existence was finally proven in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. Pluto is the only planet (in our local solar system) to be discovered by an American.
352109
Actually, the people who found it honestly want to have it called Xena.\n\nOn July 29, 2005, a Trans-Neptunian object called 2003 UB313 was announced, which on the basis of its magnitude and simple albedo considerations is assumed to be larger than Pluto. This caused its discoverers to call it the "10th planet" of the solar system, although there is no consensus yet on whether to call it a planet, and others consider the new discovery to be the strongest argument yet for demoting Pluto to the status of a minor planet.\n\nBut until then, it's being refered to as Planet X.
619708
Yes.  There is a large object (probably around 2000 kilometers in diameter) orbiting the Sun at a distance greater than Pluto's average distance from the Sun.  \n\nThe exact size of the object is unknown, and there is no official definition of "planet", so there is still some debate (as of February 2006) over whether this object should be considered a small planet or should be categorized as something else (such as a comet).
937727
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto\n\non 24 august 2006, the international astronomical union reclassified pluto.\n\npluto does orbit the sun, is ball-shaped and is not a satellite, but it does not have an isolated orbit (a bunch of other similar bodies have similar orbits.) so it is not a planet.\n\ni have been waiting for this since i was about ten when i learned that pluto didn't fit the pattern set by the major bodies in the solar system so it was an anomaly. it just felt "out of place". now that astronomers have found hundreds of other bodies with similar orbits, classifying "134340 pluto" as a planet is even more irrational. i feel somewhat satisfied, but i don't know how long this will drag on tho. many planetary astronomers are satisfied that the definition is rigorous enuf. i can accept that the definition is flawed, but i can not accept that "134340 pluto" is a planet.\n\nthis was the right thing to do, believe me. this does not change anything about pluto or the solar system. this just corrects the mistake of classifying pluto as a planet initially.\n\nthis same thing happened has happened before.  in 1800, an astronomer found a body orbiting between the orbits of mars and jupiter and thought it was a planet.  astronomers finally stopped classifying them as planets after they found several other bodies with similar orbits, and no one thinks ceres, pallas, juno, and vesta are planets today.\n\nmany astronomers consider pluto and charon to be a binary system, but two small bodies orbit that system. they are called nix and hydra.\n\nincidentally, "134340 pluto" was never a moon of neptune. neptune did capture triton. this is why triton has a retrograde orbit
575467
UB313, the 10th "planet" that is said to be bigger than Pluto.\n\nI'm not lying, read all the sources.\nBTW, the CNN news which adds support to the discovered planet is dated February 2, 2006.
806256
The International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto was no longer a planet. The reason is that while Pluto is round, orbits the sun, and has three moons, it has not cleared (via gravity) its own orbit of debris.  Instead, they decided to classify it as a "dwarf planet".\n\nSee the details below.\n\nRESOLUTION 5A\nThe IAU therefore resolves that "planets" and other bodies in our Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:\n\n(1) A "planet" [footnote 1] is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.\n\n(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape [footnote 2] , (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.\n\n(3) All other objects [footnote 3] except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar-System Bodies".\n\n\nFootnote 1: The eight "planets" are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.\n\nFootnote 2: An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.\n\nFootnote 3: These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.\n\nRESOLUTION 6A\nThe IAU further resolves:\n\nPluto is a "dwarf planet" by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.
186108
Ten. A new planet has been discovered that is approximately the same size as Pluto. It has not yet been formally named. Check http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/newplanet-072905-images.html for more info:)