Earth-Size Planet to Be Found in Outer Solar System? (Planet X)

[lovuian]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080317-new-planet.html

A planet roughly the size of Earth could be tracing a vast, elliptical orbit at the outer edge of our solar system—and astronomers in Japan think they know where to find it.

The presence of this unnamed body has been suggested before, noted Tadashi Mukai, a professor at Kobe University's department of earth and planetary sciences.



"We have been able to identify more than 1,100 objects beyond Neptune since 1992, and a huge number of objects are showing large orbital eccentricities and elliptical orbits," Mukai said.

This suggests that a body with sizeable mass must be influencing the movement of these objects by exerting a gravitational pull.

But the extreme distance and unusual orbit of the elusive "Planet X" have made it difficult to spot even with the most advanced telescopes.

In a paper appearing in an upcoming issue of the Astronomical Journal, Mukai and colleagues propose that other researchers have simply been looking in the wrong place.

more...

I have been watching this story in the Science area
here are some videos I made on the subject

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qul0f8P6T3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_gvTNusCI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGeijFsXnZk

Remember that Mystery force that has been baffling scientists

Kobe University thinks there may be a new planet coming to town
And it will change Astronomy as we know it

[Forkboy]

1. And this is who lives there....

[lovuian]

2. ROFL

:rofl: I love that picture OMG

[JackRiddler]

6. Please tell me: Are those the bad guys from Destroy All Monsters?

That was my favorite movie when I was 10!

[lovuian]

13. I sprayed tea all over my keyboard when i saw that

baaawaaahaaa

[Forkboy]

19. Sorry about that.

:D

[Forkboy]

18. Close...Invasion of the Astro Monster.

Or, Godzilla vs. Monster X here in America. :)

[lovuian]

20. I love your little godzilla

He is so cute

[Forkboy]

24. I hope that's not a metaphor.

:evilgrin:

[JackRiddler]

Well, they both precede and totally beat Devo...

They just rock!

My tag-line was once "Godzilla vs. Orwell." Get it?

[Forkboy]

35. I don't get it...I'm pretty slow.

All I can think of is '54 vs '84 ('54 being the year Gojira was released)... :freak:

[JackRiddler]

37. Nope.

Godzilla as what we need once the Orwellian anti-vision is fully established. Figuratively speaking.

[Forkboy]

38. Ahhhhhhhh

Smarty pants! Good one. :D

I have an inside connection to the big G...I'll have him get ready, because things are looking hairy. We may literally need him. :scared:

[JackRiddler]

33. Well, they both precede and totally beat Devo...

They just rock!

My tag-line was once "Godzilla vs. Orwell." Get it?

[scarletwoman]

3. Niburu!!!!111 (nt)

[magellan]

5. That's it, Niburu!11

Didn't this come from ZetaTalk? http://www.zetatalk.com/

[lovuian]

10. No this came from National Geographic and the article will be

in the In a paper appearing in an upcoming issue of the Astronomical Journal, Mukai and colleagues propose that other researchers have simply been looking in the wrong place.

"We have reached our conclusions from simulations that explain the orbital elements," Mukai said.

[scarletwoman]

11. Never heard of Zeta Talk. I've been coming across references to Niburu for years.

Actually, I heard about it years before I ever got a computer. It's a pretty longstanding idea/theory/whatever.

[magellan]

16. ZetaTalk was my intro to it

My sister put me onto that site in jest and we had many a good laugh about all the things said out there.

But NatGeo is covering Niburu now? Yikes.

[pokerfan]

30. Zeta

I used to "debate" Nancy on sci.astro in my usenet days. I came away believing that she was more charlatan than loon. Kist another Hoagland, Art Bell type scamming the masses while making the world a little more ignorant.

[magellan]

4. I first heard about Planet X years ago

It's supposed to be earth's twin or something and only swings around this way every thousand years or so...I don't recall exactly. But the story I heard was that this time it's on a collision course with us.

I thought it was bunk and don't like that the Japanese are interested enough to investigate it. They should stick to trying to wipe out Godzilla!

[lovuian]

7. I know it sounds far fetched but be sure to read the Article

National Geographic is very reputable

Kobe University has done mathematical analysis and a big investigation on this

Its fascinating

And really do you think NASA would tell you its coming

though some US scientists are quoted in the article and they say its very possible since they found Eris

[magellan]

14. Okay

Now you're scaring me. NatGeo? Is this in an upcoming issue because we're subscribers....

[lovuian]

15. Yes read the article above

I'm not kidding

[magellan]

17. I will

I apologize for not taking you seriously. Going to read it now.

[lovuian]

21. Be sure to read the second page too

The idea of looking at higher angles than the known planets' orbits raises the likelihood that more distant bodies will be found, said Sykes, of the Planetary Science Institute.

[magellan]

26. Yes

Thinking outside the box. Not all large objects will necessarily be found on the ecliptic plane.

I'm going to send that link to my sister, who used to laugh about Planet X with me. It'll scare the bejeezus out of her!

Thanks again. :)

[magellan]

23. Wow

So the rumors might be true! Earth-sized rogue planet with a 1000-year orbit around the sun. I'm gobsmacked.

At least they didn't say it's on a collision course. (Naturally they can't as they haven't found it yet.) But as you pointed out, if it was they'd never tell us.

Thanks for sharing this, lovuian!

[lovuian]

25. This has been talked about because there is archeological

evidence that the Summerians who were GREAT astronomers talked about Planet Niberu

and now what was a kinda joke out there is getting more mathematical scientific data to confirm those Ancient people like the Maya might know something after all

[magellan]

27. I'm really reaching back into my memory now

...trying to recall if there wasn't a theory that had to do with a long ago glancing collision between Earth and this Planet X that gave us our moon. I'll look it up when I have more time.

The Ancients were much smarter than we often give them credit for. Archaeologists and the like know this.

[lovuian]

29. Yes that was the collision of Tiamet that gave us the moon

one theory out there based on some archeological evidence

Planet X could have been formed during that collision as well as the asteroid belt

Our moon is a puzzle it isn't the typical moon out there

its bigger

[pokerfan]

34. archeological?

Our moon is a little bit old than that. The current theory is the proto Earth was whacked by a "Mars sized" body that blasted enough material off the planet that it eventually coalessed into the moon. There is much data to support this hypothesis: the low density of the moon, conservation of angular momentum, analysis of lunar rocks...

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. No, this is far outside the existing 8 planets

No way could this have come from an inner solar system collision:

What's more, the body's closest approach would bring it only within 80 astronomical units (AUs) of the sun, while its furthest distance would be about 200 AUs. (One AU equals the distance between Earth and the sun, about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.)

The most distant known planet, Neptune, is about 30 AUs during its closest approach.

So this planet would be far smaller than Neptune, and always significantly further away. This cannot be anything that people without good telescopes could claim to have seen.

[BrklynGreenDog]

8. Check Wikipedia page on Scattered Disc Objects

Nice sound on the video.

[JackRiddler]

9. By the way, this one better not end up in the Dungeon!

;}

[lovuian]

12. This will be a paper in the Astronomical Journal

its all based on sound science and mathematics

Kobe University believes we are going to find it soon
Now that they know where to point the telescopes

[lordsummerisle]

22. The obsession with objects in the outer solar system goes on...

whether it's ginormous comets, asteroids, "Nemesis" the death star, and now an earth-like planet on a collision course, the astro-geeks will not rest until they're all cataloged and we can rest easy that civilization is safe at least until the next election...:beer:

[DainBramaged]

28. Isn't that the planet where Jesus lives????

[pokerfan]

31. Wouldn't it be Planet IX?

Since Pluto was recently downgraded?

Ix (pronounced "iks") is a fictional planet featured in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The name comes from the Roman numeral IX, because it is the ninth planet of the star Alkalurops. Ix specializes in the production of complex machinery which often flouts the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad.

[JackRiddler]

32. Assuming it's found, it won't be classified as a planet at all unless...

it has a regular orbit in the ecliptic (the plane of the sun's rotation, along which the eight main planets align). Anything else would suggest it didn't have a common origin with the rest of the sun's planets, and is more likely a captured body from outside. (Of course, it might have been part of the original system, diverted from its orbit by some long-ago disaster.)

[fascisthunter]

36. We Should Send the 29 Percenters There (nt)