Will We Ever Find Our Missing Planet?

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Knight Templar, May 1, 2012.

  1. Knight Templar

    Knight Templar Commodore

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    I saw in Discover magazine that a new theory is that there was a fifth gas giant in our solar system billions of years ago but it was hurled from the system due to the influence of Jupiter long ago.

    I was wondering what were the odds of rediscovering this "exiled" planet someday?
     
  2. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Well, the first step would be figuring out which direction it went, and that seems damn near impossible to determine.
     
  3. Ronald Held

    Ronald Held Vice Admiral Admiral

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    There might be more than one, and finding it after ~5 billion years of travelling seems to be exceedingly difficult.
     
  4. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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    Someday, I think humans may find this rogue planet, if we do leave the system and chart interstellar space with probes and starships.
     
  5. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

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    Would we know if it came from our star system?
     
  6. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    It will have Cybermen on it.
     
  7. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Isotope composition analysis should be able to confirm whether a planet originated in our solar system. Some astronomers are on the look out for stars that were born in the same stellar nursery as our Sun, so the planets of a sister star might also have similar element ratios.

    Analysis of long period comets suggests that a 1-4 Jupiter-mass body, possibly a brown dwarf, might orbit the Sun at about 0.5 ly.
    http://www.solstation.com/stars/oort.htm#sol-b
     
  8. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

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    It's got a pretty good head start on us, seems unlikely we're gonna catch up, unless it was just poking along, or pulled over at a nearby sun...
     
  9. Wanderlust

    Wanderlust Captain Captain

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    Nope. It could be on the other side of the galaxy for all we know. We would have to catalouge them all and even then there might be several that would fit the search parameters.
     
  10. Knight Templar

    Knight Templar Commodore

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    What would be its likeliest velocity when it was cast out of the solar system?
     
  11. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Don't be silly....







    It will have Cylons on it.
     
  12. throwback

    throwback Captain Captain

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  13. Unicron

    Unicron Boss Monster Mod Moderator

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    What about Pluto? :p :angel:
     
  14. Knight Templar

    Knight Templar Commodore

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    Eventually, we'll be able to use mass drivers to regularize its orbit and thus make it a planet again as it will have a distinct orbit which it has cleared of other bodies.
     
  15. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Mondas will be back in it's own time.
     
  16. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

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    What about its moons? They are so large compared to Pluto that they all have strong gravity pulls on each other.
     
  17. Knight Templar

    Knight Templar Commodore

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    IIRC, only Charon is large compared to Pluto, and Charon is tiny overall.

    Use mass drivers to move Charon closer and the center of mass between Charon and Pluto will be back under Pluto's surface so that no longer is an issue.
     
  18. Dac

    Dac Commodore Commodore

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    But I thought Charon was in fact a Mass relay....

    Wait, am I mixing franchises? :S
     
  19. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    To paraphrase Bob Geldof, I don't like Mondas.
     
  20. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    Just like before?