Dwarf planet discovery hints at hidden world orbiting solar system

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140326-dwarf-planet-2012-vp113-astronomy/

by anigbrowl • 12 years ago

69 11 12 years ago

news.nationalgeographic.com

NIBURU!

anigbrowl2• 12 years ago

I've always dismissed that as pseudoscientific nonsense, but it would be amusing if fringe astronomers like Zechariah Sitchin turned out to be even partially correct.

Loughla• 12 years ago

Is it bad that these announcements always bring me less joy and entertainment than the following day's crazy-ass conspiracy website updates do?

flipped_bit• 12 years ago

I don't think it is too far off. Recently an exoplanet with a long elliptical orbit was discovered:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16501-elliptical-orbit...

Also it could be a brown dwarf which are hard to detect but will be inline with typical binary star systems observed elsewhere. It is hardly unlikely that our own sun is an exception to the rule.

Not to mention, the 'nemesis' theory is speculated by some main-stream astronomers.

plaguuuuuu• 12 years ago

Haha, I really hope they call this Nibiru just because they can.

MildlySerious• 12 years ago

I haven't heard this word since late 2012. Good times.

thangalin• 12 years ago

More details:

http://home.dtm.ciw.edu/users/sheppard/inner_oort_cloud/

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=46852

mcv• 12 years ago

An inner Oort Cloud object? Interesting. And apparently Sedna is also an Oort Cloud object? I did not know that. I thought it was a Kuiper Belt object.

cratermoon• 12 years ago

Even Nat'l Geo in on the hype? The original article in Nature didn't mention anything about another planet.

http://www.nature.com/news/dwarf-planet-stretches-solar-syst...

“It goes to show that there’s something we don’t know about our Solar System, and it’s something important,” says co-discoverer Chad Trujillo, an astronomer at Gemini Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii. “We’re starting to get a taste of what’s out beyond what we consider the edge.”

anigbrowl2• 12 years ago

"A rogue planet could have been ejected from our solar system and perturbed their orbits," says astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., who coauthored the discovery report in the journal Nature. "Definitely, it could still be out there."

The journal article reports on what they know for a fact. Another planet on an unusual orbit is speculation for now, so I'm not surprised they didn't mention it - although I hope that as they gather more data they'll be able to infer its location and see it block stars or somesuch, if it exists.

nodata• 12 years ago

Definitely don't watch their tv channel...

Dwarf planet discovery hints at hidden world orbiting solar system

Related Stories