# Planet X??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267 "2002-07-03T22:44:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/21 "2002-07-04T19:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lodrain \* > Planets reflect light, and unless this planet’s made out of finely-ground coal dust, we’re gonna see it coming from a really long way away. In fact, we’d probably notice even it _were_ covered in finely-ground coal dust; the planet Mercury is slightly less reflective than the Moon and that’s darker than coal dust. Yet it’s visible enough. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/22 "2002-07-04T20:32:53Z")
I think I’ve been whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/23 "2002-07-04T21:53:54Z")
Here’s a more detailed account of the story of [Planet X](http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/hypo.html#planetx). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/24 "2002-07-05T00:04:14Z")
The idea of a planet sweeping through the solar system and tossing the Earth around is, um, not terribly factual. Ain’t gonna happen. I won’t go into detail right now, but I am planning a web page on it. Until then, [read this one](http://www.planet-x.150m.com/). Oh, I’ll be on Art Bell’s radio show on July 22nd talking about it too. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/25 "2002-07-05T02:54:08Z")
Wow, **Bad Astronomer**! Just recently it was Discover Magazine, now Art Bell! What’s next for you? Seriously, keep up the good work! ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/26 "2002-07-05T10:27:08Z")
Just want to point out that there is (at least) 2 planet X’s The 1st one was a fudge factor to explain variation of the orbits of the outer planets and of no threat to us (but a good place to pick up some dilithium crystals.) The 2nd ( the one mentioned in the OP) is more of a brown dwarf or failed star with a highly eleptical orbit (much like a comet) that plays havoc w/ the solar system as it rounds the sun. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/27 "2002-07-05T19:58:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*Wow, **Bad Astronomer**! Just recently it was Discover Magazine, now Art Bell! What’s next for you? > \*\* SDMB, of course. Then. on to Master of the Universe, if I can overthrow the evil Skeletor. Really, I have no idea. I take 'em as they come my way. But stay tuned for that Planet X page on my site. I hope to have it up after the 20th, when I get a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/28 "2002-07-05T21:08:12Z")
Quoth **k2dave** : > [@](#): > > The 1st one was a fudge factor to explain variation of the orbits of the outer planets and of no threat to us The search for that first hypothetical “planet x” was the one that resulted in the discovery of Pluto. The purported variations in Neptune’s orbit, combined with Bode’s Law (which now seems to have just been a coincidence) predicted the location of the planet, and by pure luck, Pluto happened to be in that particular part of the sky at that moment. Two things came to light shortly afterwards, though: First, Pluto is far too small to have produced the observed effects on Neptune, and second, the observed effects turned out to have just been experimental error in the first place. Those who heard about that first minor detail, but not about the second, figured that X was still out there to be found, and because that’s not all that dramatic a story, some versions started throwing in the global catastrophe angle. ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/29 "2003-01-18T07:51:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\*The idea of a planet sweeping through the solar system and tossing the Earth around is, um, not terribly factual. Ain’t gonna happen. I won’t go into detail right now, but I am planning a web page on it. Until then, [read this one](http://www.planet-x.150m.com/). > > Oh, I’ll be on Art Bell’s radio show on July 22nd talking about it too. \*\* Good work, BA. Ironically the reason I searched this is because over the past month, it seems every single crackpot “prophet” Coast to Coast has on is predicting Planet X “passing through the solar system” and immediately my Bullshit meter went to 11 each time. Even if there WAS a Planet X by Pluto, wouldn’t it take decades to pass by earth? I don’t think people have any clue how truly large the Solar System really is. ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/30 "2003-01-18T08:04:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > \*\*The only problem with Planet X is its residents. I hear they carry Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modula-tors. \*\* Yeah, I’m terrified of those Planet Xian,I hope they never make it here. How would Bush handle that one?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/31 "2003-01-18T08:52:01Z")
They are still searching for planet X. Someone here posted that the planet X search resulted in the location of pluto. This is correct. But all of the planets in the solar system have unexplained perturbations in their orbits. Hence, scientist assume that there is another planet causeing this phenomenon. So the search for planet X is still going on. Ok, enough of that BS, if planet X ever threatens us, the council of worlds will intervene. Earth is a galactic game preserve for mosquitos, which are extinct everywhere else, and the coucil of worlds will not let a disaster such as collision by a planet to risk the destruction of these precious little gems of life. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/32 "2003-01-18T09:14:48Z")
In other news, people finally agreed that “Planet X” is a term being to describe 15,000 different concepts in the past 100 years, so everyone is talking about something else. And The Bad Astronomer f\*ing rules. ---
**Author:** ![dr\_hermes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@dr\_hermes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dr_hermes)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/33 "2003-01-18T12:44:24Z")
Planet X is not to be confused with Counter Earth, a planet exactly the size and makeup of our on, which revolves around the Sun exactly opposite our Earth, so that we can never see it. ``` On Counter Earth, life and civilization have evolved exactly as they have here, so that the odds are good that each of us has an exact duplicate living there, probaby making the same mistakes and posting on the Counter Earth Message Board right now. ``` I`ve always wondered how, if this duplicate planet was always on the other side of the sun, that anyone knew about it in the first place, but that`s just another of the persistent mysteries of life… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/34 "2003-01-19T22:24:49Z")
First off, **Zagadka** , kewl name, my Big Brother. 🙂 Second, there is a lot of confusion about Planet X, mostly spurred on by either the confusion of the people promoting the iodea, or their outright falsehoods. 🙂 For example, a lot of them are hazy on whether the magnetic poles of the Earth flip, or the rotation axis. Some conflate the two, mixing and matching them. It’s amazing. I have my webpage up about it: [Planet X silliness revealed](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/index.html). I am still working on it, and will add stuff in the next couple of weeks, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/35 "2003-01-20T02:24:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dr hermes \* > Planet X is not to be confused with Counter Earth, a planet exactly the size and makeup of our on, which revolves around the Sun exactly opposite our Earth, so that we can never see it. > \*\* Isn’t that Bizarro Earth? Besides, if a planet was heading towards Earth, we would just have to send a space shuttle to it, drill 800 feet into the crust and detonate a nuclear bomb. That should do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/36 "2003-01-20T02:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*So… The Earth is going to start spinning again after three days? How? 😕 \*\* Planet XI, of course, the twin to Planet X. ---
**Author:** ![hobbes730](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/97f17d/32.png) [@hobbes730](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobbes730)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/37 "2003-01-20T02:40:46Z")
> [@](#): > > He said NASA’s top scientists wanted to go to Mars and survive but that didn’t work out. So they are making a space station, which will be able to maneuver itself on the other side of earth, using earth as a shield between the space station and Planet X. Yes, you’d better _shield_ yourself from all that **gravity** … 😛 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/38 "2003-01-20T02:50:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dr hermes \* > \*\*Planet X is not to be confused with Counter Earth, a planet exactly the size and makeup of our on, which revolves around the Sun exactly opposite our Earth, so that we can never see it. > > ``` > On Counter Earth, life and civilization have evolved exactly as they have here, so that the odds are good that each of us has an exact duplicate living there, probaby making the same mistakes and posting on the Counter Earth Message Board right now. > > ``` > > I`ve always wondered how, if this duplicate planet was always on the other side of the sun, that anyone knew about it in the first place, but that`s just another of the persistent mysteries of life… \*\* Plus, on Counter Earth (where there is no war or hunger or traffic accidents), there are these two Japanese women who eat children and control a monster with a head like a steak knife and ninja stars inside. We are doomed–UNLESS GAMERA CAN STOP THEM! HELP US, GAMERA! ---
**Author:** ![hobbes730](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/97f17d/32.png) [@hobbes730](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobbes730)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/39 "2003-01-20T02:53:39Z")
Just for kicks, I did the math using the info I could find on Nibiru (passing within 14 mil. miles, 25x Earth’s mass). It would produce an aberrant acceleration of the Earth of less than .01 mm/sec/sec. Ooh, now there’s something to worry about… _shakes head_ ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267/40 "2003-01-20T15:25:21Z")
Actually, Planet X is going to make the Earth start spinning backwards, thereby reversing the flow of time. Where is **BZ0000** when we need him?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/117267.md?page=3)