Planet X

Serendipity

A Traditional Eccentric!
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For years people have been searching for Planet X (at one time called Xenia and at another time called Nemesis). It was finally dismissed when the so-called perturbations in the orbit of Uranus were finally explained in 1992.

But now comes evidence that it is almost certainly very real. See http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016...eptune-sized-planet-lurks-unseen-solar-system for details.

Edit - Dag nab it - I'm going to have to rewrite stuff....
 
There was some doubt expressed recently in some Pluto articles that EVERTHING was accounted for. Some suspicion there could be Dwarf or actual planet objects (depending on distance) between Kiuper belt and Oort Cloud.

Interesting ... probably take 20 200 years to go and look?

orbits the sun every 15,000 years.
...
Its closest approach to the sun is seven times farther than Neptune, or 200 astronomical units (AUs). (An AU is the distance between Earth and the sun, about 150 million kilometers.) And Planet X could roam as far as 600 to 1200 AU, well beyond the Kuiper belt, the region of small icy worlds that begins at Neptune’s edge about 30 AU.
That suggests VERY far out!

EDIT:

BBC Link
 
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This is wonderful news! Nemesis has long been a favourite theory of mine - we have a previous discussion on that here:
Nemesis theory - Planet X

(Am actually tempted to merge this thread with that one).

Now, this theory comes up repeatedly - what the Science piece says is that this is a totally serious and fully peer-reviewed hypothesis that stacks up.

And here's a graphic of what they're postulating:

Orbits_1280_PlanetX2.jpg


Cool beans. :)
 
Here's the video Science put on Youtube:


I've been really excited about this - a theory I've been following, and warmly supportive of, for decades. :)

However, Nemesis has been so difficult to pin down that although there's support for the theory this time around, I'm not going to hold my breath for evidence coming through any time soon.
 
The size of Neptune and with rings and 10 to 20 thousand years to orbit. I think it's rather doubtful that we'll find life there. :) But I think the idea of having another planet in our solar system is pretty cool. Maybe some day they can send a probe. :cool:
 
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Here we go again. On TV here, minutes ago - Scientists says there is a 'good chance' of a 9th planet, larger than Pluto.
I think not, just that there is a lot of wreckage floating around out there, that used to be a planet, or parts of it. But... maybe an alien spacecraft, disguised as a planet, has snuck into our solar system? Hold on, I'll look on YouTuuuuube.........
 
I did like this bit
Incidentally, this is the second time Brown has reshaped our map of the solar system. He was one of the scientists who fought to change Pluto's designation from planet to dwarf planet, and he even published a book about it. Apparently his daughter has never forgiven him. "She's still kind of mad about Pluto being demoted," he told the Washington Post. "She suggested a few years ago that she'd forgive me if I found a new planet. So I guess I've been working on this for her."
 
Scientists long ago get exited about finding planet PLUTO, that made the headlines in the media. Then later, scientists discover a tenth planet, that made the headlines. And suddenly, nothing more was said about it. Much later, scientists say PLUTO isn't a planet. A little later scientists say that they think they found a ninth planet.

Scientists have the luxury to say was is, and what is not, then change their mind. Astronomy was exciting to me when I was a teen, now it just bores me as an adult.
 
Doubt it'll happen, but if it's the IX planet, then Ixion could be a fitting name.

Mind you, we've gone with Romanised Greek gods so far, and more of the Olympians are accounted for. I think there's just:

Hestia - Vesta [I think in the Roman form]
Demeter - Ceres [apparently, had to check this one]
Athena - Minerva
Apollo [same in both]
Artemis - Diana
Dionysus - Bacchus
Hephaestus - Vulcan
 
For names, maybe one ought to go along with the theme started by Pluto/Charon. Erebus (god of darkness and shadow - it's pretty darned dark out there!) or maybe Tartarus, the god of the deepest, darkest pit of the underworld. Or even Nyx, the goddess of night.
 
Well, the way the media works today, as opposed to the previous centuries of repression, is to flood with info. So the truth or a reasonable facsimile, is out there, on YoTube, no doubt, but, can it be sorted out from the hordes of speculative disinfo? Stay tuned.
 
but I have a few comments to make about the implications of this new planet... see my post at Evidence for a ninth planet in the Solar System
My understanding is that there is no scientific basis for "bode's law"? It was just an attempt to fit observations into a formula? If we know orbit we can calculate mass, or vice versa from Kepler's laws.
Wikipedia said:
There is no solid theoretical explanation of the Titius–Bode law, but if there is one it is possibly a combination of orbital resonance and shortage of degrees of freedom: any stable planetary system has a high probability of satisfying a Titius–Bode-type relationship. Since it may simply be a mathematical coincidence rather than a "law of nature", it is sometimes referred to as a rule instead of "law". However, astrophysicist Alan Boss states that it is just a coincidence, and the planetary science journal Icarus no longer accepts papers attempting to provide improved versions of the law.
We do have theories as to how the solar system formed, which might provide some basis for "Bode's law", however larger objects between Kupier belt and Oort Cloud contradict our existing theories of planet formation.
 
My understanding is that there is no scientific basis for "bode's law"? It was just an attempt to fit observations into a formula? If we know orbit we can calculate mass, or vice versa from Kepler's laws.

We do have theories as to how the solar system formed, which might provide some basis for "Bode's law", however larger objects between Kupier belt and Oort Cloud contradict our existing theories of planet formation.

The scary thing about Bode's law is that it was discovered in or before 1715, i.e. before the existence of Ceres and the asteroid belt, Uranus and Neptune and Pluto were discovered. When ALL these fitted into the law, then there must be a basis of why this law exists. As to what that basis is, is as you say a matter for debate.

My gut feel (i.e. it follows a pattern that I'm anticipating) is that we'll see a bit of a thickening in the dust and ice particle at the missing slots of 77.2 and 154 astronomical units out from the Sun - kind of Solar System rings. Planet X or IX, depending on which terminology you prefer, is likely to be a planet flung out from the inner regions of the Solar System (much like Neptune is thought to have been). If Bode's law holds, then that planet is likely to have found or be heading for one of the two subsequent slots.
 
Ursa, Demeter should smite those who lent the name of an Olympian to a mere asteroid. Ceres may feel a bit miffed too.
 
Such distant orbits may not be unusual - this example is, but only because the distance itself is so extreme:
Astronomers discover largest solar system - BBC News

Quote:
Astronomers have discovered the largest known solar system, consisting of a large planet that takes nearly a million years to orbit its star.

The gas giant is one trillion kilometres away, making its orbit 140 times wider than Pluto's path around our Sun.

Only a handful of extremely wide pairs of this kind have been found in recent years.
 

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