Undiscovered Planet May Be Hiding at the Edge of the Solar System

[Trogdor1138]

I've been mad at them every since Pluto wasn't considered a planet >_>

But cool news anyway. Always interesting when stuff like this happens.

 

[Rocketboy13]

So it is Nemisis. The supposed other star that forms a binary star system with Sol.

This theory is old, and is often used to explain mass extinctions thru out history, that the body approaches, causes havoc, and then drifts off. Maybe this helped kill the dinosaurs.

 

[Rocketboy13]

Incidentally, this is hardly news. The theory has been around for ages, and it hasn't really changed much. Tyche...meh, I preferred "Nemesis." At least that had a bit of style...

Dang, beat me to it.

 

[L34dP1LL]

IT'S THE REAPERS, THEY HAVE COME.

 

[senataur]

ow and here we go...

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/

 

[DasDestroyer]

Over a light year seems like a bit of a stretch for an orbit around our sun... but then again, I'm not an astrophysicist(yet).

 

[hannan4mitch]

It would be nice to have nine planets again.

Nine planets and a few dwarf trans-Neptuneian objects.

 

[BakaSmurf]

I'll believe it when I see concrete proof of it's existance.

But still, the thought of Sol turning out to be a binary star system would be pretty interesting...

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I remember reading about a theory a while ago that said there was a brown dwarf star orbiting our system which they named ?Nemesis?. They believed it could be responsible for some of the mass extinction event on earth. Maybe this is referring to the same thing?

Jupiter and Saturn can be called Brown Dwarfs, theres this whole thing going on about it for a year or so now.

Another gas giant is all we need, I want to see a water planet or one made of fire/lava.

 

[loopylottie]

Awesome, except...im not sure about the name...Tyche. Not ringing anything special for me.

 

[klasbo]

Here's the deal. Two astronomers, John Matese and Dan Whitmire, have theorized about the possibility of a previously-undiscovered planet way beyond Pluto for some time. This is not a crazy idea; we see planets orbiting other stars way out, and there's other evidence big planets can be pretty far out from the Sun (mind you, evidence does not mean proof). As it happens, there are lots of chunks of ice orbiting the Sun pretty far out as well. Some of these have orbits which bring them into the inner solar system, and we seem them as long-period comets.

What Matese and Whitmire did was wonder how a big planet would affect the orbits of these comets. If you measured enough of them, would you see the effects of the gravity of this planet? They claim you can, and even gave the planet a tentative name: Tyche.

Source [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/02/14/no-theres-no-proof-of-a-giant-planet-in-the-outer-solar-system/]

Basically, they have a theory that you would be able to detect such a planet if it were there, as well as some interesting but unconvincing data.

This is like saying "Undiscovered Higgs Particle may be hiding all over the place". No kidding, doc.

 

[fletch_talon]

Sweet. Reading about planets and space in general is really interesting.

Oort cloud? Does that mean we might have to start worrying about Thread?

At least we can start breeding dragons and putting weird apostrophes in our names!

And have naked teenage orgies where dozens of men/dragons worship the body of the newly fertile woman/queen dragon and whoever flies highest claims her as his own!

Sorry, one of the only Pern stories of read was a little on the risque side.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Yay, we may actually get a another 9th planet to our solar system.

10th planet, as far as I'm concerned.

Pluto will always be a planet in my heart and mind. -_-

11th planet then. Eris is bigger than Pluto. Either you have it one way or the other.

 

[LtWiesel]

Why not call it Bob or wiggles or something like that, we have enough boring planets.

 

[Souplex]

Pluto is totally a planet! That vote is bull.

 

[chris89300]

Wait, if theres a (supposedly) massive gas giant orbiting around 300 million metres away from the sun, how the hell did we not spot it before?

Still like to see how it turns out.

Also I like how this has the potential to write off any sci-fi stories based around the Sol system.

Cuz in the vastness of space, 1 degree to the left/right/etc can make a huge difference in what we see with our primitive tech.

 

[chris89300]

Indeed it is, but I doubt our Sun's gravitational field would be powerful enough to drag a planet from whatever solar system light years away.

Well, it wouldn't exactly have to drag it, it could have other reasons.

Still, I doubt that at the moment. I mean a lightyear is damn far for a planet considering pluto is only about 5 lighthours away but if it's the supposed size of jupiter and this warm...
You'd think somebody would have spotted a second jupiter emitting quite some infrared light in our own solar system.

Indeed, but the more mass it has, the further it can be from the sun and still suffer from it's huge gravitation forces.

Read my last post for your "5 lighthour phrase" plz.

 

[chris89300]

Indeed it is, but I doubt our Sun's gravitational field would be powerful enough to drag a planet from whatever solar system light years away.

It's unlikely that's the case - It could be an orphan planet. Solar systems sometimes diffuse, or have planets knocked off course.

Very good point, the chances aren't too high tho. There's a good chance you might be right, even our tiny galaxy is big, so this kinda shit could very well happen.

 

[Emergent]

This story is sci fi gold. Another planet, in an OORT CLOUD, bigger and farther away than the others... and it's from another Solar System?

Sci.

Fi.

Gold.

 

[McMullen]

I can't believe so many are still butthurt about Pluto. Guys, it's not named after the dog. It's named after the Roman version of Hades, alright?

Why all this solidarity with a lump of ice so far away that we still have yet to get a photo of it that doesn't make the NES look HD?

It doesn't freaking care!

And besides, why is it so important whether its a planet or not? It's just a definition. Certainly not worth sending death threats to the scientists on the panel for. Yes, that did happen, and it is endlessly shameful.

What scientists choose to classify something as doesn't actually change it. It doesn't diminish it or make it greater. Classifications exist simply so that scientists have an easy way to communicate with each other. The dwarf planet classification came about partly because if you count Pluto, then "planet" has a very vague meaning, as there are a handful of other iceballs out there that are very similar to Pluto (and one, maybe two, are larger). This means that there are nearly identical objects that are planets or aren't, with no real reason to call one a planet and the other an asteroid or comet. The dwarf planet classification, and Pluto's addition to it, make it so that now everyone knows exactly what a person means when they say "planet" or "dwarf planet".

Please grow up and find something real to be upset about. The world offers a wide selection of things against which you can bring TEH RAEG. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty finding one that is worth your time.