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Hidden planet could be much bigger than Pluto

msnbc.msn.com — An icy, unknown world might lurk in the distant reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto, according to a new computer model. If confirmed, it would not be technically a planet. Under a controversial new definition adopted by the International Astronomical Union last week, it would instead be the largest known "plutoid."

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 19, 2008

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  • threemagic, on 06/19/2008, -2/+39Your mom's a plutoid.
  • spookyttws, on 06/19/2008, -2/+25I thought we've known about 'Planet X' for something like 15 years now. I remember talking about it when learning about astronomy in Late Elementary/Jr High School.

    Also, Pluto needs a hug, it's gotta be hard on planet to suddenly no be a planet anymore.
  • lucy22, on 06/18/2008, -3/+20a Plutoid, dugg for "plutoid" .
  • clayh, on 06/18/2008, -3/+20OMGZ NIBIRU!!1!
  • sgiffy, on 06/19/2008, -0/+13In the discount bin at BestBuy
  • dinobot, on 06/19/2008, -0/+13Shouldn't the headline say "Planet IX"?
  • inactive, on 06/19/2008, -0/+9Suicides not the answer man =(
  • bhavinp, on 06/19/2008, -0/+8If that ever happened, that will be the end of space exploration forever. No one wants to explore whats between Uranus and Myanus.
  • Dylson, on 06/19/2008, -1/+9OM NOM NOM NOM
  • j1ggy, on 06/19/2008, -4/+10If it's ever named it should be called Myanus.
  • lava, on 06/19/2008, -0/+6I like that I know what you're talking about.
  • kaplanfx, on 06/19/2008, -0/+7Pluto is small and not particularly luminous, and as such when hubble takes an image of it, pluto represents only a few pixels in the resulting plate. We should have some nice pictures of pluto in about 8 years or so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons
  • dinobot, on 06/19/2008, -0/+5Now the question is... where's Nemesis?
  • blacktriangle, on 06/19/2008, -2/+82012?
  • SilverBlade2k, on 06/19/2008, -2/+7Nibiru??
  • dreicher, on 06/19/2008, -1/+6These aren't the same guys who are doing the computerized weather modeling are they?
  • notzak, on 06/19/2008, -1/+6Pluto doesn't get a break, does it? It gets its own stellar classification and then something still manages to be more impressive than it.
  • alpha19, on 06/19/2008, -2/+5Quit the Pluto hating!
  • Lochie, on 06/19/2008, -0/+3I know what I'd like to find... ;)
  • cnot3, on 06/19/2008, -0/+4Once we unfreeze that mass relay orbiting it, Pluto will get its due, being that it provides the gateway to tons of hot alien poon.
  • Majorkerina, on 06/19/2008, -0/+3Well, it's more "Planet Unknown"...so X kinda still works. It just worked doubly so when there were nine others.
  • falese, on 06/19/2008, -0/+3nebraska
  • cnot3, on 06/19/2008, -0/+3Isn't Charon, Pluto's moon, the frozen mass relay? Read your codex, dude!
  • inactive, on 06/19/2008, -1/+3NIBIRU...
  • sgiffy, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2Or Plutoid II
  • readerz, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2PLANET X NIBURU OH NO!
  • donkevin, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2I see what you did there.
  • knifesideleft, on 06/19/2008, -1/+4Its actually a mass relay that will propel the human race into the space age or at least that's what I was told.
  • Mexrocker, on 06/19/2008, -1/+3Planet Rupert?
  • TheHolySeraphim, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Where will this celestial body be in 4 years?
  • FeartheKnighted, on 06/19/2008, -4/+6I plutoid your mom last night.
  • SinisterSaracen, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2Probably the Cylon homeworld.
  • xxTazxx, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2Uranus.
  • sorrytheusernam, on 06/19/2008, -0/+2Pluto is angry to have lost his status!!! Hide your jewels! THE APOCOLYPSE IS NOW!!!

    *SHRIEK*
  • Puppetfunk, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1All of the Super-Earths aren't even in our Solar System so we can't see them with the naked eye we need to sell our souls for giant magic space telescopes to see them.
  • mos6507, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Another tired meme?
  • spookyttws, on 06/19/2008, -1/+2Why can we see other larger planets in other solar systems, (i.e. the story a few days ago about several "super-earths") but can't confirm one inside our own solar system? Is it the distance from the sun (it doesn't reflect enough light)? Any astro-geeks out there, I would lov to know your thoughts.

    Also, the term Astro-Geek is awesome and should be put on your business cards for any astrophysics majors out there.
  • spookyttws, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1Thanks, that's what I thought. I guess we'll have to wait until we can probe that region to visually confirm anything. Though the prospect of more than 9 planets (err, 8...poor Pluto.) is a very exciting one. I'm sure we can learn a lot about our solar systems history, and about the history predating our solar system once we begin to get obtain more details about our outer planets. If we manage to land on Jupiter's moons, and drill beneath the surface, there could be an entire ocean of alien life, gotta love those bacteria that survive sub zero temperatures.. I love the feeling of being so small in such a vast universe, it opens the possibility of so much to discover and so much to learn.
  • mllawso, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1Nothing?
  • Shogi, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1We're being monitored.
  • inactive, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1Only objects that emit their own radiation/light can be seen in detail. The rest, such as planets in our very own solar system, can elude us no matter how many space telescopes we throw up.
  • kaplanfx, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1Um, have we already forgotten about poor Eris: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eris_(dwarf_planet) sure it's orbit is not on the ecliptic, but it's farther out and larger than Pluto.
  • Ridikul, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1What?
  • mos6507, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Tired Meme??
  • kaplanfx, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1It's not on a path to hit Eris (which is estimated to be larger than Pluto). A lot of the KPO objects are difficult to reach on the same mission due to their orbital eccentricities. Planet X is estimated to be 100-200+ AU, I wonder if there is sufficient light to image the planet at that distance if there is one. Also the radio signals would be traveling an extreme distance, I wonder if we could overcome the signal degradation.
  • mos6507, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1How about we don't and say we did?
  • tristanjames, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1I'm pretty sure that's how black holes are found, but I think they use a different method for planets. I think they look at the sun and because the planets are constantly pulling on it with their gravity they can measure the sun's movement and find out planet size and mass and distance from that.
  • Zaneris, on 06/19/2008, -0/+1That wouldn't work so well because then you have no way of knowing how many planets there are... 2...6... 14? And no way of knowing their individual sizes.
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