Planet Nine: Is the search for this elusive world nearly over?

Live Science ^ | June 14, 2024 | Harry Baker

[metmom]

We already have one.

It’s called *Pluto*.

[telescope115]

Love that picture, lol!🤣

[Robert A Cook PE]

8<)

[Saintgermain]

I wonder if anyone gave it some thought that the trajectory of this peculiar planet may be 3600 years. Just wondering.

[Conan the Librarian]

For those who still think Pluto is a full planet, I suggest reading “How I Killed Pluto and Why It had it Coming” by Mike Brown, the guy who started the whole thing. It explains what happened and why Pluto was killed as a Planet.

For me, a Rose by any other name...

[Ed Condon]

They keep refering to “TNO”s in the text, with no reference to what it means. It stands for “trans-Neptunium objects”, thank you very much.

[BenLurkin]

No, thank you!

[SunkenCiv]

The demotion of Pluto was a political act by a supposedly scientific org, was a gratuitous and unnecessary action, carried out to belittle the US. IMHO of course. I'll stick with David Levy's view:

"To Pluto And Far Beyond" By David H. Levy, Parade, January 15, 2006 -- We don't have a dictionary definition yet that includes all the contingencies. In the wake of the new discovery, however, the International Astronomical Union has set up a group to develop a workable definition of planet. For our part, in consultation with several experienced planetary astronomers, Parade offers this definition: A planet is a body large enough that, when it formed, it condensed under its own gravity to be shaped like a sphere. It orbits a star directly and is not a moon of another planet.

[SunkenCiv]

Sitchin was a fraud, if that’s what you’re asking.

[SunkenCiv]

Trans-Neptunian.

[SunkenCiv]

/bingo

And we’ve got more than nine, imho.

[BenLurkin]

Just ask the crew of the The Tulip...

[SunkenCiv]

Ah, you spotted this, "...or a historic close encounter with a rogue planet...", nice job! My first edit had almost 600 words, and it took three, four, maybe five tries to get it under the limit. But I wanted to keep that in. :^) Seems like a good enough pretext to make this a twofer topic.

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[metmom]

Agreed.

[SunkenCiv]

Alas, not close enough. :^)

Given the short duration of observed fluctuations to the orbits of outer gas giants, and the tiny size of Pluto, I've speculated for years that a large unknown will probably be found in an orbit more or less perpendicular to the ecliptic.

Harrington & Van Flandern posited a 2-to-5 Earth mass body which was subsequently/supposedly refuted by Voyager data (oh well) but a perpendicular orbit provides something of an alibi for their model. :^)

It also happens to imply an explanation for the odd Uranian system, which has a parent body with its rotational axis nearly in the ecliptic, but a system of moons which appear more 'normal' than the other gas giants.

By contrast, Neptune's moons are really screwy here and there, while the planet is relatively tranquil and workaday.

[Planet Nine: Alternative Hypotheses | Wikipedia]

[SunkenCiv]

Another pointless reply from you.

[SunkenCiv]

That ship is better than roses on the piano!

[SunkenCiv]

When I visited Antarctica I enjoyed watching that big arm that holds the Earth, it’s not visible from this hemisphere. :^)

[SunkenCiv]

“then Santa shouted, ‘no! no! Rudolph! The Schmitt house!”

[SunkenCiv]

It’s a nice-lookin’ planet, glad a probe got there in my lifetime.