Re: Pluto/Neptune resonance question

Pat Flannery <flanner@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:12evt0snnifs2dc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

Do Pluto and Neptune engage in some sort of long-term resonance
relationship so that Pluto never crosses Neptune's orbit while being in
the same plane and place as Neptune at the same time? Is the reason that
Pluto's orbital plane is skewed from the other planets due to a close
encounter with Neptune in the distant past that put it into its present
orbit?

Neptune and Pluto have a 3:2 resonance; Neptune completes 3 orbits to
Pluto's 2. I assume the dog wags the tail in this case, and that may
help to make the case that Pluto should not be considered a planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

--Damon

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Pluto and Neptune
    ... gravitationally in a big way and actually change it's orbit? ... Because of that, Pluto is ... now in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune, and never gets close to Neptune. ... Perhaps your real complaint is that you find it harder to argue against ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Im not convinced that the new definition excludes Pluto...
    ... Pluto that maintains the orbits as they are. ... If Pluto were in L1 or L2 with Neptune, ... there, it would be in a kind of 1:1 resonance with Neptune, and would ... (It would make one orbit per Neptunian ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Pluto is a planet again! (in Illinois)
    ... sham of the "clear the neighborhood" clause... ... at that point Pluto is well above or below the plane of Neptune's ... orbit, and due to the 3:2 resonance of their orbits, the 2 objects ... could expect Neptune to "clear the neighborhood" of Pluto because ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Pluto and Neptune
    ... gravitationally in a big way and actually change it's orbit? ... Because of that, Pluto is ... now in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune, and never gets close to Neptune. ... pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Pluto is a planet again! (in Illinois)
    ... sham of the "clear the neighborhood" clause... ... at that point Pluto is well above or below the plane of Neptune's ... orbit, and due to the 3:2 resonance of their orbits, the 2 objects ... could expect Neptune to "clear the neighborhood" of Pluto because ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)