Ep. 159: Planet X

Artist's illustration of the dwarf planet Eris. Image credit: NASA

Astronomers have been searching for the mysterious Planet X for hundreds of years. It was the search for a theoretical planet beyond Uranus that turned up Neptune, and then again for Pluto. And even now there are some astronomers who think there's a more distant planet out there. Oh, and there are a bunch of pseudoscience cranks trying to freak people out about the end of the world. Don't worry, we'll make time for them too, but first let's start with some real science.

Ep. 159: Planet X

Planet X

• Planet X as placeholder – Windows to the Universe
• Planet X – The UnMuseum
• The Planet X Saga — Bad Astronomy

Neptune as Planet X

• The Discovery of Neptune – Sky & Telescope
• John Couch Adams — NASA
• Urbain Le Verrier -- NASA
• Johann Gottfried Galle — Wiki
• O.J. Eggen (the Breakfast Astronomer!) – UW-Madison
• The British Case for C0-Prediction of Neptune
• Ep. 63 — Neptune

Pluto as Planet X

• Percival Lowell — Lowell Observatory
• Clyde Tombaugh
• Mike Brown — Caltech
• Mike Brown's Planets
• Ep. 1: Pluto's Planetary Identity Crisis
• Ep. 64: Pluto and the Icy Outer Solar System
• IAU definition of a planet
• The Discovery of Eris — Caltech
• Kuiper Belt Cliff — Running 'Cause I Can't Fly

Other Planets Out There Anywhere?

• No Tenth Planet Yet from IRAS
• Astrophysical Journal Letters (278:L63) (1984) by Houck et al titled Unidentified point sources in the IRAS minisurvey
• Constraining the Orbits of Planet X and Nibiru — Universe Today
• Short and Long Period Comets
• Earth Extinction Events — Wiki
• Richard Muller's research on Moon impacts
• Nemesis Theory — Richard Muller

Take a look for yourself:

• HIPPARCOS Catalog
• US Naval Observatory Catalog
• Hubble Guide Star Catalog
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Future Telescopes to look for "Planet X"

• Pan-STARRS telescope
• LSST

2012 Nonsense

• 2012: No Planet X – Universe Today
• 2012:  Planet X is Not Nibiru — UT
• 2012:  Combat the Nonsense — UT

1. Zach Kessin Says:
   November 4th, 2009 at 1:15 am

   I'm disappointed, not 1 Duck Dodgers reference! How could you?

   Off to find some Illudium phosdex!

2. JHGRedekop Says:
   November 4th, 2009 at 7:57 am

   Dr. Phineas Waldorf Steel, the mad scientist musician, has a song about Nibiru with lots of pseudo-science in-jokes — Planet X Marks The Spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0dOUX46e2o

3. Rob Bax Says:
   November 4th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

   THANKS for all you did, it is GREAT

   Sorry to say, I mis the transcrips from E137 en some before.
   English is not my native, and I need my translation program to understand it well.

   What I not understood is the name Sedna, discovered by NASA some 4 years ago en named by people 5000 years ago, they could'nt now that, isn't mentiioned. (ok the 10 th, now Pluto is not a planet the 9 th)

   Did I mis something?
   Thank you and your staff again, Rob

4. Alistair Tyrrell Says:
   November 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am

   This was one of my favourite episodes yet. The outer edge of the solar system is a very interesting place! I think there is room for a whole episode just on 'very cool objects' – meaning, those very distant from the Sun. Areas including the Oort Cloud. Kuiper Belt. Heliopause. Scattered Disk. Objects such as Cubewanos, Centaurs, etc. Can I respectfully submit that as a show idea please ???

5. Pavel Smutny Says:
   November 7th, 2009 at 3:41 am

   There is big effort of mainstream scientists to dishonest people – other scientists who have endavour to find proof for existence of Nibiru/Planet X, of Nemesis. People who have real interest to find some important infos about X,…are sacked from their jobs on universities, from state,…institutions. It is similar with case of ufo fans,….though Julius Obseguinus wrote book about ufo, about contacts with extraterestrials Liber Prodigorum in 4th century A. D.,…..people who have seen ufo,…are proclaimed by media, by governments for stupid, or insane persons.
   http://senmut.webs.com/apps/blog/
   Have a nice days

6. Zach Kessin Says:
   November 8th, 2009 at 3:47 am

   Ever notice all the talk of Planet Nibiru always omits one important piece of data, where on the sky is it? Give me a RA/DEC for the thing if you say it its out there!

7. Pavel Smutny Says:
   November 9th, 2009 at 3:38 am

   Nibiru, because its probable proximity to perihelia should be somewhere 1,5billion km from us, circa as far as Saturn. Nibiru so should have its appearant motion on sky toward us, due to year motion of Earth on its orbit such, that Nibiru moves circa from Castor and Pollux to Aldebaran and vice versa within 1 year on sky. Nibiru is where head of Orion is,..on the end of December,..

8. Zachary Kessin Says:
   November 9th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

   Thats a lot of area to look, can you be more specific? I want to be able to go see this thing, something like say 3deg NW of Rigel would be much more helpful.

9. Rob Bax Says:
   November 10th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

   Thank you Dr. Pamela and the whole team of this cast.

   I asked for the tranlations, and there came a lot of former LECTURES.
   I don't like the word show in this case.
   Sorry that I said, English is not my native. (i'm not a native indeed ))
   I had to say its'n my native language.
   I'v heard your loud laughter in my dreams, in an unknown frequency.
   Thank you all for this GREAT LECTURES

10. 2012hoax Says:
    November 17th, 2009 at 10:34 am

    Oh this is *so* going on my list of resources…. Thanks guys!

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