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Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solar system's edge



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 19th 15, 07:53 AM posted to sci.space.policy
snidely
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solar system's edge

scribbled something on Thursday the 12/17/2015:
On Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 10:54:50 AM UTC-8,
wrote:
"New papers say "Super Earth" may orbit the Sun at six times the distance of
Pluto."

See:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/...-systems-edge/


According to:

http://gizmodo.com/the-james-webb-te...ace-1748471871

"The European Space Agency has announced that the James Webb Space Telescope
will finally be launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018."


How useful will this telescope be for spotting and studying objects at the
edge of our own solar system like the ones mentioned in the article in the
original post?


Depends on how bright those objects are in the wavelengths it detects
(the emphasis is on infrared, but WP says it will also detect some
visible frequencies). Also on whether its focal length is appropriate
for resolving small objects at less than stellar distances.

Hubble's pictures of Pluto aren't very interesting, and that's a fairly
large object at that range. They do show the disk, and hint at a
non-uniform surface. Charon, only the disk IIRC.

/dps

--
Killing a mouse was hardly a Nobel Prize-worthy exercise, and Lawrence
went apopleptic when he learned a lousy rodent had peed away all his
precious heavy water.
_The Disappearing Spoon_, Sam Kean
  #2  
Old December 21st 15, 01:00 AM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

Since the WISE satellite operates in the infrared, and has proven useful for
disproving the existence of planets closer (relatively speaking) to the Sun:

http://www.gizmag.com/nasa-wise-planetx/31148/

Wouldn't the James Webb Space Telescope (which also operates in the infrared)
be able to spot planets even farther out?

If not the JWST, what would be the best type of astronomical instrument for
spotting objects like the ones mentioned in the article cited in the OP
(something build-able with today's technology)?

  #3  
Old January 20th 16, 07:14 PM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

Now there's this:


Mysterious Planet X Could Be the Ninth Planet In Our Solar System:

"The researchers studied six small objects in the Kuiper belt and noticed their
orbits funneled toward the sun in a very specific formation. The likelihood of
this being a coincidence is slim to none. What researchers believe is that a new
planet, unofficially dubbed "Planet X," is pulling these objects into its orbit.

The theory is fairly radical. If true, it means that Planet X would be orbiting
the Sun from a distance astronomers have never seen before. The celestial body
is so far away, it takes 15,000 years for it to make one trip around the Sun.
By comparison, Neptune, which has the longest known orbit around the sun, takes
164 years to complete."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/mysterious-planet...-so-1754018188
  #4  
Old January 23rd 16, 09:38 AM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 10:14:13 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Now there's this:


Mysterious Planet X Could Be the Ninth Planet In Our Solar System:

"The researchers studied six small objects in the Kuiper belt and noticed their
orbits funneled toward the sun in a very specific formation. The likelihood of
this being a coincidence is slim to none. What researchers believe is that a new
planet, unofficially dubbed "Planet X," is pulling these objects into its orbit.

The theory is fairly radical. If true, it means that Planet X would be orbiting
the Sun from a distance astronomers have never seen before. The celestial body
is so far away, it takes 15,000 years for it to make one trip around the Sun.
By comparison, Neptune, which has the longest known orbit around the sun, takes
164 years to complete."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/mysterious-planet...-so-1754018188


So, is this object the same as the "Gna" object transiting near Alpha Centauri?:

http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/14/astron...ystem-5564737/

Or are these 2 separate finds?
  #5  
Old March 29th 16, 12:32 AM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

Here's Yet More Evidence for the Ninth Planet Hypothesis:

"The tiny planet called uo3L91 is so new it doesn't even have an official
catalog name yet, let alone a fancy moniker picked from mythology. But it does
offer something important for scientists: more evidence that a ninth planet is
lurking in the far reaches of the solar system.

This world uo3L91 has an orbit that seems to slingshot it out to some of the
most distant reaches of our solar system before swooping back in. There are
five other objects just like it. What makes it so special is that this family
of objects, which includes Sedna and 2012VP113 (aka "Biden"), seem to point out
in the same direction, something that Caltech astronomer and dwarf planet
expert Mike Brown believes to be a giant ninth planet."

See:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...-theory-orbit/
  #6  
Old April 4th 16, 07:30 PM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

'Planet X' caused mass extinctions on Earth?:

"Planet X, a suspected ninth planet in our solar system, may have caused
periodic mass extinctions on Earth, according to a new study. The yet
undiscovered "Planet X" triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on
our planet at intervals of approximately 27 million years, researchers said.
Scientists have been looking for Planet X for 100 years.

In previous work, researchers inferred its existence based on orbital anomalies
seen in objects in the Kuiper Belt, a disc-shaped region of comets and other
larger bodies beyond Neptune. According to Daniel Whitmire, from University of
Arkansas in US, and his colleagues, as Planet X orbits the Sun, its tilted
orbit slowly rotates and the planet passes through the Kuiper belt of comets
every 27 million years, knocking comets into the inner solar system.

The dislodged comets not only smash into the Earth, they also disintegrate in
the inner solar system as they get nearer to the Sun, reducing the amount of
sunlight reaching Earth. In 1985, a look at the paleontological record
supported the idea of regular comet showers dating back 250 million years.
Newer research shows evidence of such events dating as far back as 500 million
years.

The researchers believe that Planet X would be between one and five times the
mass of Earth, and about 100 times more distant from the Sun. "What's really
exciting is the possibility that a distant planet may have had a significant
influence on the evolution of life on Earth," said Whitmire. The study was
published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society."

See:

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/scien...-on-earth.html
  #7  
Old April 7th 16, 10:32 PM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

How Astronomers Are Going to Find Planet Nine:

"Planet nine hasn't been spotted--its existence is inferred by the improbable
orbits of a handful of distant, icy objects. A race is on to find the mysterious
world, and help is coming from all corners of the astronomical community."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/how-astronomers-a...ine-1768072602
  #8  
Old May 4th 16, 08:44 PM posted to sci.space.policy
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

'Planet Nine' may not exist: study:

"Scientists have found that there is low probability of the existence of the
mysterious 'Planet Nine', a Neptune-mass world that may circle our Sun at a
distance of about 64 billion to 225 billion kilometres."

See:

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/scien...ist-study.html
  #9  
Old May 4th 16, 11:58 PM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
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Default Astronomers question claim of super planet found at solarsystem's edge

On Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7:44:53 AM UTC+12, wrote:
'Planet Nine' may not exist: study:

"Scientists have found that there is low probability of the existence of the
mysterious 'Planet Nine', a Neptune-mass world that may circle our Sun at a
distance of about 64 billion to 225 billion kilometres."

See:

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/scien...ist-study.html


Folks have been arguing about this since the 1980s! lol.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say, which is pretty accurate;

The trans-Neptunian object Sedna has an extra-long and unusual elliptical orbit around the Sun,[2] ranging between 76 and 975 AU. Sedna's orbit is estimated to last between 10.5 and 12 thousand years. Its discoverer, Michael Brown of Caltech, noted in a Discover magazine article that Sedna's location seemed to defy reasoning: "Sedna shouldn't be there", Brown said. "There's no way to put Sedna where it is. It never comes close enough to be affected by the Sun, but it never goes far enough away from the Sun to be affected by other stars."[22] Brown therefore postulated that a massive unseen object may be responsible for Sedna's anomalous orbit.[2] This line of inquiry eventually led to the hypothesis of Planet Nine.

Brown has stated that it is more likely that one or more non-companion stars, passing near the Sun billions of years ago, could have pulled Sedna out into its current orbit.[22] In 2004, Kenyon forwarded this explanation after analysis of Sedna's orbital data and computer modeling of possible ancient non-companion star passes.[7]

That ancient companion star is Nemesis - and here is the background on that

Nemesis is a hypothetical red dwarf[1] or brown dwarf,[2] originally postulated in 1984 to be orbiting the Sun at a distance of about 95,000 AU (1.5 light-years),[2] somewhat beyond the Oort cloud, to explain a perceived cycle of mass extinctions in the geological record, which seem to occur more often at intervals of 26 million years.[2][3] As of 2012, over 1800 brown dwarfs have been identified and none of them are inside the Solar System.[4] There are actually fewer brown dwarfs in our cosmic neighborhood than previously thought. Rather than one star for every brown dwarf, there may be as many as six stars for every brown dwarf.[5] The majority of solar-type stars are single.[6]

More recent theories suggest that other forces, like close passage of other stars, or the angular effect of the galactic gravity plane working against the outer solar orbital plane, may be the cause of orbital perturbations of some outer Solar System objects.[7] In 2011, Coryn Bailer-Jones analysed craters on the surface of the Earth and reached the conclusion that the earlier findings of simple periodic patterns (implying periodic comet showers dislodged by a hypothetical Nemesis star) were statistical artifacts, and found that the crater record shows no evidence for Nemesis.[8] However, in 2010, A.L. Melott and R.K. Bambach found evidence in the fossil record confirming the extinction event periodicity originally claimed by Raup & Sepkoski in 1984, but at a higher confidence level and over a time period nearly twice as long.[9] The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) failed to discover Nemesis in the 1980s. The 2MASS astronomical survey, which ran from 1997 to 2001, failed to detect an additional star or brown dwarf in the Solar System.[10]

Using newer and more powerful infrared telescope technology which is able to detect brown dwarfs as cool as 150 kelvins out to a distance of 10 light-years from the Sun,[11] the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE survey) has not detected Nemesis.[12][13] In 2011, David Morrison, a senior scientist at NASA known for his work in risk assessment of near Earth objects, has written that there is no confidence in the existence of an object like Nemesis, since it should have been detected in infrared sky surveys.[12][14][15][16]
 




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