Planet X: The Facts, The Myths

Valley Soapbox ^ | June 2003 | Maarten Keulemans

[Mr. Bird]

If Pluto were discovered today, it probably would not be considered a planet either.

How about Rosie O'Donnell?

[Andonius_99]

Some people think X isn't even a real planet, but a 'brown dwarf': a massive ball of dust and gas that almost succeeded in becoming a star.

"it triggers earthquakes"

"it rips open volcanoes, and unleashes massive tsunamis."

Sorry...must have been all the mexican food I ate last night...whew...stinky little brown dwarves...

[Movemout]

"ANY ASTRONOMERS or the like care to guess the name of this planet x ? "

Europa?

[UCANSEE2]

No,No,No.

Maybe my question was posed improperly. "Can anyone guess the name of the moon that may have been planet x?"

HINT: Movemout was closest.

[Renegade]

Lest you forget, MARS NEEDS WOMEN!!!

[js1138]

But in the spring of 2003, it will suddenly make its appearance.

It's only got a couple of weeks left.

[The Great RJ]

Gee and I was just about to go out and by several rolls of aluminum foil to make an extra heavy duty hat. I might stock up anyway --those black helicopters might be back.

[Movemout]

Well, lets see. I know that Io has an atmosphere. I also believe that Apollo 17 detected an atmosphere on our own companion, Luna. There are a lot of inconsistencies present in the size of Luna v.v. Earth. My next guess woould be our own moon followed by Io.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Suddenly?

Like it will suddenly switch on it's gravitational field?

[js1138]

No, silly. It will drop its cloaking device.

[UCANSEE2]

Well, I guess you win. The correct answer is : IO.

Io has an atmosphere, but at first we didn't understand how it got there.

Io has MORE volcanic activity than any planet in our solar system, including EARTH.

Volcanic activity means the planet has it's own 'energy' source inside, just like earth.

We used to think the core of the Earth was molten iron, thus producing the Earth's magnetic field.

Although this is currently the scientific community's accepted view, it cannot answer why the size/shape/output of the field change.

Regardless, Io must have the same 'energy' source that is causing the volcanic activity. It may be that Io is turning into (or back into) an EARTH LIKE planet (moon?, it is roughly the same size as Earth) which will have it's own life-sustaining atmosphere and life-saving uv-protection.

So, the question then is, was Io a part of a larger planet, which was split into pieces and part of which is now Earth, the other part Io ? Or was Io part of the body which crashed into a planet in our solar system, and the remainder of the original planet became Earth, the remainder of the traveller , Io?

[Nowhere Man]

Hmmm, if there is something tugging at the orbits of Neptune, Pluto, and whatever else, maybe the Solar System has a brown or black dwarf companion that we do not know of or have yet to discover. I know a large percentage of stars are binary or even trinary stars, maybe our own Sun, Sol, has a companion of it's own. It's possible I can be wrong, but I'm just tossing this off the cuff for sake of discussion.

[Movemout]

The volcanic activity on IO is thought to be caused by gravitational stress from its neighbors Ganymede and Io. Gaseous NaCl is ejected at a couple of tons a second into its rather thin atmosphere. It is roughly the size of our own moon, not earth itself. I still think the most interesting possibility of life in our solar system, other that earth, is Europa. Oceans beneath the ice are a prime possibility for an amazing discovery. The discoveries on earth in recent years of life existing on our own planet under extreme conditions lends credence to the theory that life might exist in our very own neighborhood.

[Movemout]

Ganymede and Io should be Ganymede and Europa. Sorry about that.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...it will pass Earth, missing it only at a few hairs' lengths. Or, well: hitting us at full force, perhaps.

Beware the fall of the "Foot".

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Io. Moon of Jupiter.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...And no...I didn't read #31 before I answered. The dead giveaway was the volcanic activity.

[Movemout]

I must not have registered the volcanic activity in the description. I was concentrating on atmosphere. Amazing!

[UCANSEE2]

The volcanic activity on Io is thought to be caused by gratitational stress as you stated.

We do not know. As proof we don't really know, I would refer back to the question of Earth's magnetic field. What generates Earth's magnetic field, and in turn, the volcanic activity?

We can't explain how magnestism and gravity really work, and they are two of the most basic forces of nature. We claim there is no PLANET X, yet we had an asteriod come flying by the EARTH at relatively TOO CLOSE a distance, and no one ever saw it coming. Most people don't even know that we are not outside the sun, we are inside it. Mercury, Venus Earth are inside the burning (exosphere?) of the sun. Tell them that, they won't believe you.

[UCANSEE2]

It is roughly the size of our own moon, not earth itself.

Thank you. I stand corrected.