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Which of the following statements is CORRECT with respect to Pluto? Pluto became a dwarf planet because of its cold temperature. The demotion of Pluto was due to its lack of atmosphere and moons. The discovery of Eris led to the demotion of Pluto from planet status. Pluto was demoted from planet status because of Pluto's size.

Sagot :

Answer: The discovery of Eris led to the demotion of Pluto from planet status.

Explanation:

         The discovery of Eris led to the demotion of Pluto from planet status to dwarf planet status because Eris made scientists realize that if Pluto was classified as a planet, many other similarly-sized objects could be planets too since Eris was a similar size to Pluto.

         This caused the reclassification of Pluto and the three rules to be classified as a planet. These rules were set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006.

  1. Orbit the Sun: The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
  2. Large Mass and Round Shape: The object must have enough mass to cause its gravity to become a nearly round shape, also known as hydrostatic equilibrium.
  3. Cleared Its Orbit: The object must have cleared its orbit, meaning that it is gravitationally dominant in its area and there are no other similarly sized objects in its path. Moons do not count, however, since they are under the gravitational influence of the object.