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Is 'Planet Nine' actually a grapefruit-sized black hole? Big new telescope could find out
space,com ^ | 07/11/2020

Posted on 07/12/2020 9:46:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Over the past few years, researchers have noticed an odd clustering in the orbits of multiple trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which dwell in the dark depths of the far outer solar system. Some scientists have hypothesized that the TNOs' paths have been sculpted by the gravitational pull of a big object way out there, something five to 10 times more massive than Earth (though others think the TNOs may just be tugging on each other).

This big "perturber," if it exists, may be a planet — the so-called "Planet Nine," or "Planet X" or "Planet Next" for those who will always regard Pluto as the ninth planet. But there's another possibility as well: The shepherding object may be a black hole, one that crams all that mass into a sphere the size of a grapefruit.

The highly anticipated Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a big telescope under construction in the Chilean Andes, is scheduled to begin a wide-ranging, decade-long survey of the southern sky called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) in late 2022.

The Rubin Observatory will be incredibly sensitive and scan large swaths of sky repeatedly, a combination that will provide an unprecedented wealth of data, scientists have said. For example, LSST data will allow astronomers to probe the nature of mysterious dark energy and dark matter, find and track large numbers of potentially hazardous asteroids and study our Milky Way galaxy's formation and evolution, among other things.

The LSST observing program will also be able to spot a potential black-hole signature, the new study reports — "accretion flares" that result when black holes gobble up comets or other small objects.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: annmariemadigan; astronomy; blackhole; cometfocusing; cometfocussing; darkenergy; darkforce; darkmatter; grapefruit; johnmatese; niburu; panetx; rubinobservatory; science; speedofdark; tno; xplanets; zdericmadiganbelt; zmbelt
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1 posted on 07/12/2020 9:46:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Nope...it’s basketball size! ;-)


2 posted on 07/12/2020 9:48:18 AM PDT by House Atreides (It is not a HOAX but it IS CERTAINLY A PRETEXT)
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To: House Atreides

Well there it is. Fact checked and proven false.


3 posted on 07/12/2020 9:49:46 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

I always loved the Christmas music of the
trans-Neptunian Orchestra.


4 posted on 07/12/2020 9:51:48 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: SunkenCiv

5 posted on 07/12/2020 9:52:49 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
I’m too lazy to read the article. Are we talking about “Planet 9” or “Plan 9”? I hope it’s Plan 9. That would be much more interesting.


6 posted on 07/12/2020 9:55:15 AM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: tet68
Ah yes. The "Tulip"


7 posted on 07/12/2020 9:56:19 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
the size of a grapefruit.

Now I'm hungry...

8 posted on 07/12/2020 9:57:19 AM PDT by John123 (It is Time for Debt Jubilee. Everything is Free)
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To: BenLurkin

5 Earth masses? On an astronomical scale, such a black hole would be short lived. Using Hawking’s theories on the evaporation of black holes, the lifespan of a black hole is proportional to its mass raised to the fourth power.


9 posted on 07/12/2020 10:04:07 AM PDT by Fred Hayek (The Democratic Party is now the operational arm of the CPUSA)
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To: BenLurkin

“Planet 9’’ or “Plan 9’’? Which is it?


10 posted on 07/12/2020 10:05:01 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: Leaning Right
“The chief's been murdered! And some one’s responsible!’’
11 posted on 07/12/2020 10:06:40 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: BenLurkin

Actually it’s a double whopper with cheese.


12 posted on 07/12/2020 10:15:38 AM PDT by faithhopecharity (Politicians are not born, theyÂ’re excreted. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: BenLurkin

“Until her death in 2016, Rubin was frequently listed as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in physics. Her most consequential realization was that galaxies rotate so quickly that they ought to fly apart. The fact that they don’t, she reasoned, is proof that there is a massive amount of, well, something in the universe that humans cannot yet study directly - what we now call dark matter.”


13 posted on 07/12/2020 10:17:54 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: BenLurkin
The 8 meter telescope (26 foot)

"...with first light anticipated in 2020, and full operations for a ten-year survey commencing in October 2022. LSST data will become fully public after two years."

14 posted on 07/12/2020 10:22:04 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Fred Hayek

1.25 * 10^50 seconds, or 3.96 * 10^42 years. Not what I would consider a “short time”. Plus, the lifespan of a black hole is proportional to its mass raised to the third power.


15 posted on 07/12/2020 10:23:30 AM PDT by bIlluminati (Defund the Left. Shrink the U.S. Federal government to 1897 levels.)
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To: PIF

dark matter matters


16 posted on 07/12/2020 10:23:34 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom Hi Dad)
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To: PIF

bttt


17 posted on 07/12/2020 10:25:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Hawking black holes radiate energy. This causes black holes to slowly evaporate. The smaller they get the faster this process moves until they explode in a burst of radiation. Looking for that signature radiation is the way to go.


18 posted on 07/12/2020 10:25:18 AM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong!)
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To: al baby

Dark Matter was canceled last year even though a black woman was the star


19 posted on 07/12/2020 10:26:24 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: al baby

dark matter matters
That’s great.


20 posted on 07/12/2020 10:42:25 AM PDT by freefdny
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