Two more planets in our Solar System, say astronomers

www.businessinsider.com ^ | Jan. 19, 2015, 8:40 AM | Richard INGHAM, AFP

[Red Badger]

Paris (AFP) - The Solar System has at least two more planets waiting to be discovered beyond the orbit of Pluto, Spanish and British astronomers say.

The official list of planets in our star system runs to eight, with gas giant Neptune the outermost.

Beyond Neptune, Pluto was relegated to the status of "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, although it is still championed by some as the most distant planet from the Sun.

In a study published in the latest issue of the British journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers propose that "at least two" planets lie beyond Pluto.

Their calculations are based on the unusual orbital behaviour of very distant space rocks called extreme trans-Neptunian objects, or ETNOs.

In theory, ETNOs should be dispersed in a band some 150 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun.

An AU, a measurement of Solar System distance, is the span between Earth and the Sun -- nearly 150 million kilometres (almost 93 million miles).

ETNOs should also be more or less on the same orbital plane as the Solar System planets.

But observations of about a dozen ETNOs have suggested a quite different picture, the study says.

If correct, they imply that ETNOs are scattered much more widely, at between 150 and 525 AU, and with an orbital inclination of about 20 degrees.

To explain this anomaly, the study suggests some very large objects -- planets -- must be in the neighbourhood and their gravitational force is bossing the much smaller ETNOs around.

"This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution" of the ETNOs, said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid.

[Resolute Conservative]

What is their immigration policy?

[editor-surveyor]

.
All of their ‘science’ is settled, at the bottom of the bucket.

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[Marko413]

[Kenny Bunk]

named after Al Sharpton ....

I am embarrassed by my oversight. Thanks Cowboy Bob.

I shall be much more sensitive in the future. A hearty Koom-Buy-AH to you, Mrs. Cowboy Bob, and all the politically correct buckaroos in your bunkhouse!

[MaggiesPitchfork]

Astrology is really gonna take a hit here - can’t wait how they explain these new mystical forces!

[MarchonDC09122009]

What film is your posted picture and reference from?

[Calvin Locke]

The top was probably from Buckaroo Banzai. Lithgow looks like he could use some Vat 69.

[RayChuang88]

I wonder are the scientists using the same analysis developed hundreds of years ago that allowed us to find Uranus and Neptune (which are generally not visible to the naked eye even on a very clear night out in rural areas) originally? Those methods were used to find Pluto in 1930 and in recent years find a number of trans-Neptunian objects. Don't be surprised if some of the world's biggest telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope are used in this search.

[Red Badger]

They should be able to plot an orbit for these objects.............

[Capt. Tom]

Princeton edu-
Vulcan was a small planet proposed to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun. In an attempt to explain peculiarities of Mercury's orbit, in the 19th-century French mathematician Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier hypothesized that they were the result of another planet, which he named Vulcan. No such planet was ever found, and Mercury's orbit has now been explained by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

[Red Badger]

...Verrier hypothesized that they were the result of another planet, which he named Vulcan. No such planet was ever found

[Flick Lives]

I thought, wow 500+ AUs away... that should be halfway to the next star... but it’s not.
500AU = .0079 light years. Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light years away. Pluto is 29 AU from the Sun, and it took New Horizon 9 years to get to Pluto.

Even our own Solar System is big, darn big.

[Lazamataz]

Beyond Neptune, Pluto was relegated to the status of "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union in 2006,

Pluto: "Freakin planetists. Always oppressing the small planets. Me and Mercury are gonna shut down interplanetary routes until we get some respect. NO RECOGNITION, NO SPACEFLIGHT! NO RECOGNITION, NO SPACEFLIGHT! NO RECOGNITION, NO SPACEFLIGHT!"

[Red Badger]

Pluto is 29 AU from the Sun, and it took New Horizon 9 years to get to Pluto.

New Horizons entered directly into an Earth and Sun escape trajectory after launching on 19 January 2006 at a velocity of 58,536 km/h (36,373 mph), making it the fastest spacecraft to ever leave Earth orbit, 100 times faster than a jetliner.

After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APL, New Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007 at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased New Horizons '​ speed by 4 km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph).

[SMARTY]

And “O” lies BEYOND all of them!! :)

[Red Badger]

“O” lies everywhere he goes............

[camle]

whatever happened to Seles (or whatever it is called)? the planet after pluto

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Beyond Pluto means frozen rocks. Who cares?

[joethedrummer]

So, is Pluto back in the ‘club’ this week, or not?

[Red Badger]

Not till the dues are paid up.....................