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.
How about an "iceteroid"?
only nixon could go to nibiru
Or rather arbitrary and possibly relative (smaller or larger than Pluto). But not subjective.
for later reading
Everyone knows that Hoth is an ice planet...
As long as it isn't something politically incorrect, like say, a mythological god represented by a white male (see planets 1, 4-9).
The astronomer that found it submitted the name "Lila" to the IAU- his daughter's name.
Astronomers Find a New Planet in Solar System
The New York Times | 7/29/05 | KENNETH CHANG
Posted on 07/29/2005 3:35:26 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453462/posts
"Planet Clinton"...I like that name!
Wonder if this planetoid is also responsible for the near reversal of the polarity of our planet.
Planet Gitmo!!
You could call a distant frigid ice planet "Hillary Land".
Aren't we up to about 27 10th planets now?
Lets bribe IAU and see if Xena Warrior Princess can be the primo selection.
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe · | ||
| Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar · | ||
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.