The Big Backyard by Ron Miller

Author:Ron Miller [Miller, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Astronomy, Astrological Science, Solar System, Space Mission, Space Exploration, Atmosphere, Comets, Sun, Orbits, Gravity, Planets, Gas Giants, Satellites, Asteroids, Pluto, Moons, Spacecraft, Dwarf Planets, Dwarf Star, Orion Nebula, Universe, Solar System Formation, Planet X, NASA, Space Probes, Hubble Space Telescope, Observatory, New Horizons, Space Telescopes, Telescopes, Voyager, Ionization, Convection, Sublimation, Nitrogen, Nebulas, Supernovas, Protoplanetary Disk, Planetesimals, Halley's Comet, Comet Bernadinelli-Bernstein, Charon, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Niburu, Life, Cryovolcano, Cryolava, Glaciers, Heliosphere, Percival Lowell, Blink Comparator, Primordial Black Hole, Long-Period Comets, Late Heavy Bombardment, Ecliptic Plane, Magnetic Fields, Bow Shock, Solar Wind, Corona, Plasma, Aurora, Cosmic Rays, Solar Sail, Neutron Stars, Energetic Neutral Atoms, IBEX, IBEX Ribbon, IMAP, Proxima Centauri, Haumea, Farfarout, Arrokoth, Triton, Eris, Leleākūhonua, 'Oumuamua, Rosetta, Nonfiction, Young Adult, Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781728486000
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Planet X and Pseudoscience

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Speculation about the possibility of a large planet beyond Pluto has resulted in many people believing in an imaginary planet called Nibiru. Beginning in 1976, author Zecharia Sitchin wrote a series of books theorizing that the solar system contains a mysterious tenth planet. He based this idea on the myths, writings, and artwork of an ancient civilization, the Sumerians, who lived in southern Mesopotamia (where most of modern-day Iraq lies) five thousand years ago. Sitchin claimed that Nibiru has a very unusual orbit that causes it to pass through the solar system every thirty-six hundred years. When this happens, Nibiru (which some call Planet X) can come very near Earth. As it zooms past our planet, it causes cataclysmic events to occur. Sitchin thinks Nibiru’s next visit will be in 2087. He believes this close approach to Earth will create worldwide earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, and other disasters.

Supporters of the Nibiru theory say that not only does the planet exist, but it has already been seen. They claim that observatories around the world have seen it and that NASA even has photographs of it! None of this is true, of course.

One reason to dismiss the idea of Nibiru is that any planet of its proposed size would have been easily spotted by astronomers, yet no one has ever seen it. Another is that if a planet the size of Nibiru were anywhere near where believers say it is, its gravitational effects would be easily detected. Finally, while large undiscovered objects may be in the Kuiper belt or beyond, scientists know from the way the solar system formed and from the orbits of known planets that any planet in the outer solar system could not have an orbit that brings it close to Earth.

One reason that many astronomers think a large planet may be hidden deep within the Kuiper belt is that some of the small objects found in the Kuiper belt seem to have strange orbits that seem to be influenced by some large, invisible object. This might be a yet undiscovered planet.

In looking at the orbits of the known Kuiper belt objects, astronomers noticed something unusual. At their respective closest approaches to the sun, the perihelion, their orbits all passed through or near the same point. This suggested that something was disturbing the orbits, something yet to be discovered. Many astronomers thought this mysterious object might be a large, undiscovered planet—something like a dark Neptune, perhaps. They called it Planet Nine, or Planet X.

In 2016 two astronomers, Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, calculated the probable orbit Planet X would have. They examined the observations of known Kuiper belt objects whose orbits seemed to be affected by an unknown but massive planet. Since most of the planets (except Pluto) lie in the ecliptic plane, it seemed reasonable to expect Planet X to also be orbiting in the ecliptic plane. The problem was to figure out just where along the line of the ecliptic the unknown planet might be.

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