Posted on 08/12/2016 10:46:17 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The TNO orbits in a plane that’s tilted 110 degrees to the plane of the solar system. What’s more, it swings around the sun backwards unlike most of the other objects in the solar system. With this in mind, the team that discovered the TNO nicknamed it “Niku” after the Chinese adjective for rebellious.
To grasp how truly rebellious it is, remember that a flat plane is the signature of a planetary system, as a star-forming gas cloud creates a flat disk of dust and gas around it. “Angular momentum forces everything to have that one spin direction all the same way,” says Bannister. “It’s the same thing with a spinning top, every particle is spinning the same direction.”
...
Batygin was one of two astronomers who earlier this year announced that the presence of another highly inclined group of objects could be pointing toward a large undiscovered world, perhaps 10 times as massive as Earth, lurking even further away – the so-called Planet Nine.
Upon further analysis, the new TNO appears to be part of another group orbiting in a highly inclined plane, so Holman’s team tested to see if their objects could also be attributed to the gravitational pull of Planet Nine.
It turns out Niku is too close to the solar system to be within the suggested world’s sphere of influence, so there must be another explanation. The team also tried to see if an undiscovered dwarf planet, perhaps similar to Pluto, could supply an explanation, but didn’t have any luck. “We don’t know the answer,” says Holman.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
What the hell is it waiting for? Come pick these people up already and get them out of here.
Probably excreted from Uranus.
So, it is NOT a ‘78 Pinto, eh?
Number 3. Not bad but not a record.
I saw a Pinto Runabout yesterday that was in mint condition. I mean it was super clean. It was on a trailer being towed by a motorhome.
Death Star
"What the hell is that?"
Ah, a rolling greenhouse.
It’s a mystery, and weird only to humans on Earth. To itself, it’s perfectly normal and natural. Stupid humans can’t fit it into existing theories.
I’m not as young or as fast as I used to be.
Debris from a supernova.
Pelosi’s motorhome
The object emitted a message the other day:
“I warn you humans who call yourselves Americans. If you elect Hillary to be your president, I will come to your planet and destroy everything. Choose wisely.”
“Well, don’t put yer lips on it!”
And then it said, “Send More Chuck Berry.”
Planet Nibiru!
Just like in Spaceballs.
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