what is the name of the 10th planet?

[St. Pynchon]

Dibs on the Oort Cloud

[~~~~Closed~~~~]

it adds a radish and a couple of angry badgers

do you have some sort of raddish fetish?

[Tokemaster]

I sank Sedna, befor anyone got time to eat it.

[Trollax]

what does the discovery of the 10th planet do to the whole horoscope thing?

Well usually the horoscope is not significantly altered... The discovery of Chiron in 1977 kind of threw things up into debate, usually what happens is that the prevailing consciousness of the time of discover gets attributed to it.
Physical facts for Chiron can be found here
While an astrological exploration can be found here

As to Sedna, I'm guessing that seeing as how it's orbital period is roughly the same as the time it takes earth to change pole stars, I'm guessing it will be given a more universal effect, something along the lines of periods relating to states in civilisation. Just another piece of "proof" of the underlying order in the universe in our own minds.

[Plaidikins]

what does the discovery of the 10th planet do to the whole horoscope thing?

It does nothing more than it did before if you pretend it's not there.

[cyberus]

On a similar note, has anyone ever heard of the Planet X Theory?  I remember reading something about it about a year ago, and how it's dead set to smash into earth in like 2012 or something. . .

[Plaidikins]

On a similar note, has anyone ever heard of the Planet X Theory?  I remember reading something about it about a year ago, and how it's dead set to smash into earth in like 2012 or something. . .

Cool. Doom. I'll have to look into that.

Doom is your friend, you know.

[cyberus]

No, doom Is your friend. . .Next time he shows up, falls aslepp on my couch, then wakes up and pisses on my cat, and goes on to eat all of the cheetos, I think I might just. . . .well. . . .IT'LL BE SOMETHIGN BAD!!

[Plaidikins]

No, doom Is your friend. . .Next time he shows up, falls aslepp on my couch, then wakes up and pisses on my cat, and goes on to eat all of the cheetos, I think I might just. . . .well. . . .IT'LL BE SOMETHIGN BAD!!

That wasn't Doom, it was his evil transvestite twin sister, Larry. Larry's evil.

Yes.

[Bella]

Actually, Doom is my friend.
He's also my boss - I'm his oracle.
I know fer sher you're right about the cheetos....he just loves them.

PS: I have to say, just for the record, that Doom has never once pissed on my cat, tho.

[Plaidikins]

PS: I have to say, just for the record, that Doom has never once pissed on my cat, tho.

That's because only Larry does that.

[Lord_Caramac]

I thought the planet was called "Rupert" or so.

[Z³]

On a similar note, has anyone ever heard of the Planet X Theory?  I remember reading something about it about a year ago, and how it's dead set to smash into earth in like 2012 or something. . .

How nice, wormwood is scheduled to show up right around the end of the mayan calender. Good to know, the end of Kali Yuga seems kind of boring so far.

Its probably bullshit, but we'll find out.

[Horab Fibslager]

On a similar note, has anyone ever heard of the Planet X Theory?  I remember reading something about it about a year ago, and how it's dead set to smash into earth in like 2012 or something. . .

How nice, wormwood is scheduled to show up right around the end of the mayan calender. Good to know, the end of Kali Yuga seems kind of boring so far.

Its probably bullshit, but we'll find out.

i've heard alot of bullshti concerning this.

anyopne remember the exact date? i want o mark it on my calendar so i can get the day off from work

[EvilPoet]

On a similar note, has anyone ever heard of the Planet X Theory?  I remember reading something about it about a year ago, and how it's dead set to smash into earth in like 2012 or something. . .

How nice, wormwood is scheduled to show up right around the end of the mayan calender. Good to know, the end of Kali Yuga seems kind of boring so far.

Its probably bullshit, but we'll find out.

i've heard alot of bullshti concerning this.

anyopne remember the exact date? i want o mark it on my calendar so i can get the day off from work

Does "Planet X" exist, and could it come close to Earth?

Is there really a 10th planet?

Many people are fascinated by the idea of finding another planet in our Solar System, but as yet there is no good evidence that there is another large body beyond Pluto.

There are several "Planet X" stories that circulate from time to time in the popular press.

The more scientific Planet X story concerns several astronomers who, after analyzing the orbits of a large number of comets, suggest that there may be a large body in the Oort cloud which is disrupting the orbits of some of the long-period comets that we see, so that they swing into the inner Solar System. Other astronomers have done a similar analysis, though, and they do not see any evidence for a planet. Most astronomers would need better evidence to be convinced of the existence of another planet.

A less scientific Planet X story concerns Zechariah Sitchin, who published a book called The Twelfth Planet in 1976. (Ancient peoples considered the Sun and the Moon to be planets because the move with respect to the stars, so those plus the usual nine give a total of eleven planets that we can all agree on.) Through a combination of some suspect Sumerian archaeology and a complete ignorance of the laws of physics, Sitchin cooked up a hypothesis about a giant planet named Marduk or Nibiru. According to Sitchin, Nibiru swings through the inner Solar System every 3600 years, and the planet and its angel-like alien inhabitants are responsible for everything from the tilt of Uranus to the origin of the human race to the parting of the Red Sea.

I hear that some follower of Sitchin recently predicted the return of Nibiru in the spring or early summer of 2003. Needless to say, Nibiru has yet to be detected by astronomers.

A large planet that plunges through the inner Solar System every few millennia would have strong gravitational effects on the orbits of the planets which would be quite obvious, and astronomers see no sign of such events. However, it is still possible that there is large undiscovered planet in the outer Solar System. If it is far from the Sun, it will be very hard to detect because it will be dim and hard to see, and its gravitational effects will be very subtle. (Thus the scientific debate over the cometary orbit data.)

Those are the two most common Planet X stories. If you were thinking about yet another 10th planet story, please don't hesitate to email me.

Addendum (June 2002): Because we've gotten several questions about this, and because I obviously don't have enough real work to do, I worked out Nibiru's current distance from the Sun assuming that its orbital period is 3600 years, its perihelion distance (closest approach to the Sun) is 1 AU (the Earth's distance from the Sun), and that it would reach perihelion in June of 2003, one year from now. Nibiru would be 4.7 AU from the Sun. Closer than Jupiter. And Nibiru is supposedly three to four times larger than Earth, about the size of Uranus or Neptune [not larger than Jupiter, as this answer previously stated. --BRS]

Has anybody noticed a new planet in the sky? 'Cause I sure haven't, and neither have any of the other amateur astronomers, professional astronomers, or enthusiastic skygazers in the world.

Update (October 2003): Hmmmm . . . still no Planet X! I wonder if it's just been delayed?

See also: The Planet X Saga