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Authors: Andy Lloyd
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because it would cause some problems
for our current models of solar system formation. But the tide is turning as
new discoveries come to light about other star systems.
I recently had an opportunity to ask the space historian and
skeptic James Oberg about NASA’s current attitude towards Planet X, and his
reply was illuminating. He suggested that there probably wasn’t an official
position towards the subject, but that it is considered when relevant to
specific missions, like the proposed Pluto-Kuiper probe. He had seen a renewed
interest in the discoveries in the outer frontier of the solar system in recent
years, which we will dwell on shortly, and was personally excited about the
possibilities emerging. 16
It
seems that even commentators who are often labeled as skeptics are being won
over to the idea that Planet X could be out there. But that doesn’t stop
astronomers from being very cagey about what they say on this subject. To
openly promote the idea of a major undiscovered planet or brown dwarf in the
scientific literature, is to invoke the wrath of many skeptical scientists.
I
don’t know why this is particularly, but it is evidently true. The science of
astronomy and cosmology can be quite bold and speculative at times, so one
would expect that such ideas ― if properly presented in the literature
― would be welcomed in the same way as, say, new thinking on black holes.
Alas, this does not appear to be so. One can only surmise that the mere
suggestion of the existence of a Planet X suggests greater consequences than
just the advancements of scientific knowledge about our outer solar system.
The Dark Star Discovered
In
1999, two researchers presented findings that might indicate the existence of a
small brown dwarf orbiting the sun. One of them, Dr. John Murray of the Open
University in England, initially found it difficult to even get his paper
published. Perhaps that was because he wasn’t an astronomer, but an Earth
scientist. More likely was the nature of his proposal, which subsequently
brought much criticism his way. As well as a lot of publicity, because any
suggestion of an undiscovered planet in our solar system is inherently
newsworthy. Popular interest and academic disdain often go hand in hand.
John
Murray looked at the trajectories of long-period comets and analyzed them to
see if any patterns emerged. 17 Long-period comets are thought to
originate in the Oort Cloud, an hypothetical, but generally accepted spherical
distribution of comets beyond about 2000 Astronomical Units. 18 The
comets in question emerged from the outer Oort Cloud, which extends from about
20,000AU onwards to the very limit of the sun’s influence. These are very
considerable distances indeed.
In his paper, John Murray explained why he thought a very massive
planet might be orbiting the sun out among these distant comets: the comets had
arrived from points in the sky that indicated a pattern to their origins. He
noted that whilst other explanations for this were possible, the cometary
orbits were most likely to have attained these configurations because of the
presence of an unknown distant object circling the sun between thirty and fifty
thousand astronomical units away. 17 This is an immense distance and
a great circular orbit around the sun out there would take millions of years to
complete.
He made a strong case for the following argument: The Oort Cloud
should have a random, but spherical distribution around the sun, rather like a
very thick skin on an orange. Assuming comets are dislodged randomly from the
cloud to move into the planetary zone of the solar system, then the sky
locations from which they came should be randomly distributed, as well as their
original distances from the sun. His analysis showed that this was, in fact,
not the case, but that there was a statistical aberration. That clustering
calls for another influence affecting the comets that were disturbed from their
meandering distant orbits
for our current models of solar system formation. But the tide is turning as
new discoveries come to light about other star systems.
I recently had an opportunity to ask the space historian and
skeptic James Oberg about NASA’s current attitude towards Planet X, and his
reply was illuminating. He suggested that there probably wasn’t an official
position towards the subject, but that it is considered when relevant to
specific missions, like the proposed Pluto-Kuiper probe. He had seen a renewed
interest in the discoveries in the outer frontier of the solar system in recent
years, which we will dwell on shortly, and was personally excited about the
possibilities emerging. 16
It
seems that even commentators who are often labeled as skeptics are being won
over to the idea that Planet X could be out there. But that doesn’t stop
astronomers from being very cagey about what they say on this subject. To
openly promote the idea of a major undiscovered planet or brown dwarf in the
scientific literature, is to invoke the wrath of many skeptical scientists.
I
don’t know why this is particularly, but it is evidently true. The science of
astronomy and cosmology can be quite bold and speculative at times, so one
would expect that such ideas ― if properly presented in the literature
― would be welcomed in the same way as, say, new thinking on black holes.
Alas, this does not appear to be so. One can only surmise that the mere
suggestion of the existence of a Planet X suggests greater consequences than
just the advancements of scientific knowledge about our outer solar system.
The Dark Star Discovered
In
1999, two researchers presented findings that might indicate the existence of a
small brown dwarf orbiting the sun. One of them, Dr. John Murray of the Open
University in England, initially found it difficult to even get his paper
published. Perhaps that was because he wasn’t an astronomer, but an Earth
scientist. More likely was the nature of his proposal, which subsequently
brought much criticism his way. As well as a lot of publicity, because any
suggestion of an undiscovered planet in our solar system is inherently
newsworthy. Popular interest and academic disdain often go hand in hand.
John
Murray looked at the trajectories of long-period comets and analyzed them to
see if any patterns emerged. 17 Long-period comets are thought to
originate in the Oort Cloud, an hypothetical, but generally accepted spherical
distribution of comets beyond about 2000 Astronomical Units. 18 The
comets in question emerged from the outer Oort Cloud, which extends from about
20,000AU onwards to the very limit of the sun’s influence. These are very
considerable distances indeed.
In his paper, John Murray explained why he thought a very massive
planet might be orbiting the sun out among these distant comets: the comets had
arrived from points in the sky that indicated a pattern to their origins. He
noted that whilst other explanations for this were possible, the cometary
orbits were most likely to have attained these configurations because of the
presence of an unknown distant object circling the sun between thirty and fifty
thousand astronomical units away. 17 This is an immense distance and
a great circular orbit around the sun out there would take millions of years to
complete.
He made a strong case for the following argument: The Oort Cloud
should have a random, but spherical distribution around the sun, rather like a
very thick skin on an orange. Assuming comets are dislodged randomly from the
cloud to move into the planetary zone of the solar system, then the sky
locations from which they came should be randomly distributed, as well as their
original distances from the sun. His analysis showed that this was, in fact,
not the case, but that there was a statistical aberration. That clustering
calls for another influence affecting the comets that were disturbed from their
meandering distant orbits
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