Robert Seeberger wrote: > > With Pluto in mind, if some disaster were to occur changing Mars' > orbit so that it flew inside Earths orbit and/or outside Jupiters > orbit for a portion of its year, would it cease to be a planet? > (Only if it falls into the Sun, Ronn! <G>) > If this orbit were possible - I don't know if we can have a stable irregular Martian orbit in resonance with Earth, considering Jupiter's influence - then Mars would be a planet unless there were other Mars-sized bodies in the same orbit.
The problem with Pluto is that there are other objects in the 3:2 resonance with Neptune. Pluto is not big enough to clear them out. Mars is big enough to clear its orbit. Ceres is not big enough to clear the asteroid belt. Alberto Monteiro _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
