# The Age of Planet X! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687 "2016-01-20T17:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teflon\_grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@teflon\_grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teflon_grut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/1 "2016-01-20T17:23:37Z")
… or Planet 9, or Planet Nine, or whatever you want to call it. The people responsible for the cruel fate that was bestowed upon Pluto have now gone public with the fact that they strongly believe that there is a massive planet that exists far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. [NPR article on the new planet](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/20/463087037/hints-of-a-hidden-distant-planet-in-our-solar-system) So… is this speculative? Is it pretty strongly rooted in fact? How excited can I get about this? Are pants optional at this point? Would that lead me to be escorted out of work? This would be one of the major scientific events of my lifetime, and I am 31. The Human Genome Project, privatization of space travel, FarmVille, and then… maybe this? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/2 "2016-01-20T19:23:38Z")
Planet, schmanet, Janet! 😃 First Mike Brown kills Pluto ([and tells us why it had it coming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_I_Killed_Pluto_and_Why_It_Had_It_Coming)), and a decade or so later, he says he’s found its successor as the ninth planet. I think it’ll be awhile before we get agreement on whether he’s really found a new planet, but this is interesting stuff indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/3 "2016-01-20T20:38:54Z")
Mike Brown was just interviewed on the radio. He said he and his people spent the last two years trying to find out what’s causing some gravity weirdness that some other people noticed. He also said planets are not official until they are actually seen. Pretty exciting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/4 "2016-01-20T21:01:07Z")
So he killed Pluto and now “discovers” another planet to take i’ts place… ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/5 "2016-01-20T21:16:37Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > So he killed Pluto and now “discovers” another planet to take i’ts place… He hasn’t found anything…yet. What he and others have found are essentially anomalies that MIGHT mean there is a large object with relatively large mass moving around out there. This has been discussed in the past. I recall people speculating that our sun might have a companion, since binary (and more) stars seem to be the norm, while singletons are pretty rare. The idea was that there might be a brown dwarf out there on a very long elliptical orbit that every few tens of millions of years perturb comets and such in the Oort Cloud, flinging them into the inner solar system. I’m pretty sure this theory has been quashed, but I guess according to this data there might still be something large out there. Going to be pretty hard to find, since it won’t be giving off very much light, and it’s so far away that it would take years or even decades to get out there to explore with robotic probes or see even with large space borne telescopes. Cool though if it pans out. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/6 "2016-01-20T21:22:52Z")
> [@XT](#): > > What he and others have found are essentially anomalies that MIGHT mean there is a large object with relatively large mass _moving around out there_. Emphasis added. So at this point we don’t know if it is a plant or…an alien DEATH STAR. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/7 "2016-01-20T21:25:33Z")
The graphic on the linked page indicates to me that there’s a planet orbiting at around the distance of the aphelion of Sedna et al, not where the graphic indicates. All those bodies having similar aphelia seems to be a bit of a tell-tale. This is probably why I’m not an astronomer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/8 "2016-01-20T21:30:44Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Emphasis added. So at this point we don’t know if it is a plant or…an alien DEATH STAR. We won’t really know until it moves in around our own moon, giving us only 15 minutes until it’s in range to find it’s critical weakness and save humanity!! :eek: I’m fairly sure that Bruce Willis and Will Smith (Mark Hamill being sadly too old…though Bruce and Will are getting a bit long in the tooth as well, I suppose) are on standby though just in case they are needed… ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/9 "2016-01-20T21:39:53Z")
I thought Pluto was recently resurrected as a planet? Anyway this is fascinating and if true would apparently make our solar system less of an oddball in comparison to other systems. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/10 "2016-01-20T21:40:40Z")
> [@XT](#): > > We won’t really know until it moves in around our own moon, giving us only 15 minutes until it’s in range to find it’s critical weakness and save humanity!! :eek: I’m fairly sure that Bruce Willis and Will Smith (Mark Hamill being sadly too old…though Bruce and Will are getting a bit long in the tooth as well, I suppose) are on standby though just in case they are needed… The Expendables 4!!! ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/11 "2016-01-20T21:48:45Z")
> [@drunky smurf](#): > > the expendables 4!!! red 3 - standing by ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/12 "2016-01-20T21:51:09Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Emphasis added. So at this point we don’t know if it is a plant or…an alien DEATH STAR. Whatever it is, it’s not a moon. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/13 "2016-01-20T21:59:11Z")
No love for Jeff Goldblum? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/14 "2016-01-20T22:11:56Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > No love for Jeff Goldblum? I’m pretty sure Apple laptops only work on Aliens…they have no effect on the Empire or the Force. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/15 "2016-01-20T22:46:34Z")
> [@XT](#): > > He hasn’t found anything…yet. What he and others have found are essentially anomalies that MIGHT mean there is a large object with relatively large mass moving around out there. This has been discussed in the past. I recall people speculating that our sun might have a companion, since binary (and more) stars seem to be the norm, while singletons are pretty rare. The idea was that there might be a brown dwarf out there on a very long elliptical orbit that every few tens of millions of years perturb comets and such in the Oort Cloud, flinging them into the inner solar system. I’m pretty sure this theory has been quashed, but I guess according to this data there might still be something large out there. Going to be pretty hard to find, since it won’t be giving off very much light, and it’s so far away that it would take years or even decades to get out there to explore with robotic probes or see even with large space borne telescopes. Cool though if it pans out. It was a joke:P. ---
**Author:** ![Dajn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@Dajn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dajn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/16 "2016-01-21T00:08:20Z")
In my opinion there is nothing more fascinating than astronomy. Proven equations do not lie. If a brilliant mathematician tells me that something is not right with these orbits, I believe him. I do find it strange that an object the size of Neptune could hide from all the geniuses this world has ever seen but I try my best to always have an open mind and I understand that i am not a smart person. I fail at keeping an open mind repeatedly but I believe an open mind is the way to be. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/17 "2016-01-21T02:35:42Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I thought Pluto was recently resurrected as a planet? Well, it’s a dwarf planet - same as many other objects out there that you won’t find an elementary science book. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/18 "2016-01-21T02:48:39Z")
From many other articles, they’re talking roughly 10 Earth Masses (Neptune is 17) at a distance of 200-250 AU (Neptune is at 30 AU). Given that Pluto is at anywhere from 29.66 to 49.3 AU and it took New Horizons 9 years to get out there, we’d be talking 64 years(?) for an equivalent probe. Probably not do-able on current technology. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/19 "2016-01-21T17:28:13Z")
I’m already hearing about more ancient alien theories thanks to this. George Tsoukalas is gonna have a field day. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687/20 "2016-01-21T17:35:46Z")
> [@Dajn](#): > > I do find it strange that an object the size of Neptune could hide from all the geniuses this world has ever seen … Space, as it turns out, is big. And the image you have in your head of the solar system from science books and posters dramatically, unbelievably inflates the size of the planets relative to the solar system to make them visible at all. On a to-scale wall poster showing the whole solar system, you’d barely be able to make out the Sun, much less something the size of Neptune. These folks [https://youtu.be/zR3Igc3Rhfg](https://youtu.be/zR3Igc3Rhfg) recently did a scale model in the desert; it’s interesting to watch to see the real scale of things. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-age-of-planet-x/743687.md?page=2)