Posted on 07/30/2005 12:09:55 AM PDT by Srirangan
A US astronomer has said he had discovered a 10th planet in the outer reaches of the solar system that could force a redrawing the astronomical map.
If confirmed, the discovery yesterday by Mike Brown of the respected California Institute of Technology would be the first of a planet since Pluto was identified in 1930 and shatter the notion that nine planets circle the sun.
"Get out your pens. Start re-writing textbooks today," said Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy, announcing what he called "the 10th planet of the solar system," one that is larger than Pluto.
"It's the farthest object ever discovered to orbit around the sun," Brown said in a conference call of the planet that is covered in methane ice and lies nearly 15 billion kilometers (nine billion miles) from Earth.
"I'd say it's probably one and a half times the size of Pluto," he said from CalTech, based in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, referring to what until now has been the most distant planet in earth's solar system.
Currently about 97 times further from the sun than the Earth, the celestial body tentatively called "2003-UB313" is the farthest known object in the solar system, and the third brightest of the Kuiper belt objects.
It is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet, Brown said.
The astronomer conceded he and his team did not know the exact size of the new planet, but its brightness and distance tell them that it is at least as large as Pluto, which measures 2,302 km in diameter.
The size of an object in the solar system object can be inferred by its brightness, just as the size of a faraway light bulb can be calculated if one knows its wattage, he explained.
"We are 100 per cent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system."
But Brown conceded that the discovery would likely rekindle debate over the definition of the term "planet" and whether Pluto should still be regarded as one.
Critics have long questioned whether Pluto, which resembles objects in the Kuiper belt, is actually a planet.
Brown discovered what could be a new addition to the universe known to man along with colleagues Chad Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz, of Yale University, on January 8.
The planet was first spotted on October 31, 2003 with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California.
But it was so far away that its motion was not detected until the scientists reanalysed the data earlier this year, Brown said.
The astronomers have proposed a name for the "planet" to the science's governing body, the International Astronomical Union, and are awaiting the decision of this body before announcing it.
The planet has not been noticed previously because its orbit is at a 45 degree angle to the rest of the solar system, he said.
"We found it because we've looked everywhere else. Nobody looks way up that high. It's tilted way out of plane," he added.
Planet Hollywood?
Vulcan, Quirinus, Aeolus. Technically Vulcan is already the name of a hypothetical planet inside the orbit of Mercury. Unfortunately a number of the 'big' names have been wasted on relatively trivial objects (Apollo, Minerva, Juno, Bacchus, Vesta etc).
My 100 watt lightbulb is brighter than my 40 watt lightbulb, but they are the same size. Maybe I'm just a dim bulb this am. Is this a new way of thinking in the physical sciences?
Looks like all the "good ones" are gone. Maybe we could get it named after Jim Robinson.
I have known about it for years.
The author Peter Thompkins wrote a book about the Mexican pyramids being a model of the solar system. Included are temples of the moon and sun and each of the planets.
There are 10 planets in the very large model. The Aztec astronomers were on the ball.
Rename Pluto "Studio 54?"
And the new one should be Mongo. Of course, if it's 9 BILLION miles from the Sun, just how big can a solar system be?
How exciting!
I hope the new name fits into the My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets thing...
Oops...just realized that Nine Planets won't work anymore.
Looks like we're all going to have to learn a new sentence.
Whoa there...
hold it a minute...
who said that Bacchus was "trivial"????
I was kind of hoping they'd break with Greco-Roman tradition and name the new planet "Mickey" to go with "Pluto". The next one can be "Goofy."
LOL!
And in my spare time, I can continue my search for the "Planet of the wonton Brasileiras". It's not for me, it's for the betterment of the human condition, plus my son will be dating in a few short years... ; )
ok, so it is supposedly bigger than Pluto.
now, a question: what is the DEAL with Pluto and Charon/Khyron? are they considered planets, or just big planetoids at this point?
AAARRRRRGHHH!!!
this sloppy construct must be killed on sight wherever it is found!
The author means (but does not SAY) the following: "All planets are planetoids. NOT ALL planetoids are planets."
*extreme grumbling*
survey SAYS? XXX!
The diameter of Earth's moon is 3,476 kilometers (2,160 miles). I think this voids the "solitary" definition, rendering the Earth-Moon system a planetary binary.
Hoth? lol
Seriously- Brownsworld has a certain ring to it! Or Wotworld- Way Out There World.
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