Researchers discover 'Planet Nine'
Source: USA Today
Caltech researchers say they have found evidence of a giant planet tracing a "bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system."
Dubbed Planet Nine, it has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun on average than does distant Neptune. The researchers say it would take Planet Nine up to 20,000 years to orbit the sun.
"This would be a real ninth planet," said researcher Mike Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg professor of planetary astronomy. "There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. It's a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that's still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting."
Brown says the planet has 5,000 times the mass of Pluto and is so big there should be no debate about whether it is a true planet.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/01/20/researchers-discover-planet-nine/79056118/
Apparently, Pluto remains a 'non-planet'.
HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)E-Z-B
(567 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Babel_17
(5,400 posts)Lol at how it's the Planet X episode.
JudyM
(29,236 posts)Tab
(11,093 posts)Sounds like I'm getting a call from outer space.
JudyM
(29,236 posts)Fun crazy dancing memories from back then! Jumping up and down like we were looney.
malthaussen
(17,193 posts)Pluto will always be the ninth planet for me, I don't care what they say.
-- Mal
MowCowWhoHow III
(2,103 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)Zecharia Sitchin and Sumer
Zecharia Sitchin
Although Lieder originally referred to the object as "Planet X", it has become deeply associated with Nibiru, a planet from the works of ancient astronaut proponent Zecharia Sitchin, particularly his book The 12th Planet. According to Sitchin's interpretation of Babylonian religious texts, which contradicts conclusions reached by credited scholars on the subject,[24][25] a giant planet (called Nibiru or Marduk) passes by Earth every 3,600 years and allows its sentient inhabitants to interact with humanity. These beings, which Sitchin identified with the Annunaki of Sumerian myth, would become humanity's first gods.[26] Lieder first made the connection between Nibiru and her Planet X on her site in 1996 ("Planet X does exist, and it is the 12th Planet, one and the same." .[27]
However, Sitchin, who died in 2010, denied any connection between his work and Lieder's claims. In 2007, partly in response to Lieder's proclamations, Sitchin published a book, The End of Days, which set the time for the last passing of Nibiru by Earth at 556 BC, which would mean, given the object's supposed 3,600-year orbit, that it would return sometime around AD 2900.[28] He did however say that he believed that the Annunaki might return earlier by spaceship, and that the timing of their return would coincide with the shift from the astrological Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius, sometime between 2090 and 2370.[29]
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)Believers in Planet X/Nibiru have given it many names since it was first proposed. All are, in fact, names for other real, hypothetical or imaginary Solar System objects that bear little resemblance to Nibiru as described by Lieder or Sitchin.
T_i_B
(14,737 posts)I first heard about "planet niniburu" in a particularly odd leaflet from a conspiracy theorist in 2003!
http://newsthump.com/2016/01/22/newly-discovered-planet-to-be-named-barry/
It is an unusual name for a planet, yes, said Simon Williams, of the International Astronomical Union. Id have gone with Trident, Excelsior or Simon. But we had a lottery in the office to name it, and Barry won.
Barry the planet is still only theoretical and has prompted a stampede of stargazers to try and positively identify it in the sky with many claims of identification turning out to be, on closer examination, fake; a speck of dust, the Moon, a circle drawn in biro, a dog, someone throwing a tennis ball in the air, and even someones wifes head.
There have also been lucrative offers from corporations to sponsor the new planet which could see planet Barrys official title be Planet Barry as brought to you by Cillit Bang, or simply Planet Cillit Bang.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)IGNORE ME!
Orrex
(63,208 posts)Ted Cruz has already vowed to carpet-bomb Planet Nine.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)Bayard
(22,063 posts)There you are.
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)Dr. Strange
(25,920 posts)nolabels
(13,133 posts)Reminds me of this
MariaThinks
(2,495 posts)to be able to find another planet of that size what was completely unknown to us previously
-none
(1,884 posts)The last time this planet was in view, telescopes were so crude as to be non-existent.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Orrex
(63,208 posts)blackspade
(10,056 posts)But I still think of Pluto as a planet.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Planets of short stature demand to be called "little planets".
T_i_B
(14,737 posts)The planet, reported to be 5000 times bigger than Pluto, would like a word about why humans made his son cry by downgrading him from planet.
Astronomers are reported to be crapping themselves after ignoring Plutos threats to get his dad on them when they downgraded him in 2006. Pluto was a titch so we didnt think thered be any problem throwing him out of the solar system, said Astonomer Simon Williams.
Although I will admit that giving him a Chinese burn and calling him a willy-wufter when we did so might have been overly harsh."
BadgerKid
(4,552 posts)yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)"All we are saying, is give Pluto a chance"
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)sakabatou
(42,152 posts)TygrBright
(20,759 posts)Hopefully John Emdahl remains in charge there.
amusedly,
Bright
Kingofalldems
(38,454 posts)Babel_17
(5,400 posts)JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)nitpicker
(7,153 posts)jpak
(41,757 posts)Eric the Drunk
(14 posts)I hope this turns out to be horseshit, thus discrediting Brown, a well-deserved punishment!
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I bet you would've been quite entertaining back during the "moon-bombing"
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Eric the Drunk
(14 posts)I am a registered member of the Pluto Underground! We shall never forgive Dan Brown!
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)...who is the guy who discovered Eris and Sedna as was the big force behind Pluto's demotion.
This is fucking HUGE!!!
frizzled
(509 posts)nt
Baclava
(12,047 posts)Don't be alarmed...we still don't know everything out there
Gravitational Perturbations
and the Prediction of New Planets
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/perturbations.html
If the evidence supports it, science moves on
Reter
(2,188 posts)Would that be like a Neptune-type sized planet?
Tab
(11,093 posts)one of the "planetary requirements" is that it dominates its orbiting neighborhood, which apparently this does, but Pluto never did.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)roamer65
(36,745 posts)A long dead star that could not gravitationally retain it or it was ejected Sol may have picked it up somewhere over the years.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)Before the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn stabilized
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)That was a name given for a planet some time ago
It's orbital impact has been observed, except it's so far away (four times the distance to Pluto) that it's never been in telescopic reach.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)Last edited Fri Jan 22, 2016, 02:17 AM - Edit history (1)
Sedna is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
While Sedna has NOT been defined as a "Dwarf Planet", as that term is used to defined Pluto and Ceres, that is what most people think Sedna is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_possible_dwarf_planets
Sedna is sometimes called a "Minor Planet" a term officially abolished in 2002 but still in use:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_planet
tabasco
(22,974 posts)What a great guy he was. I was disappointed when they downgraded Pluto.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)https://twitter.com/atstephenbell/status/689926009953587200
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)Because we need to be going real soon.