• @Olap@lemmy.world
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    -49 days ago

    Surely the absence of nine indicates our model of gravity is off. Combined with lack of Dark Matter, is Einstein wrong?

  • Einar
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    9 days ago

    What are we going to name it when it is found?

    I trust we really don’t want “Planet Nine” (if we do, we should rename Earth to “Planet 3”), let alone “Planet X”. Any better ideas?

    • The Bard in GreenOPA
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      8 days ago

      If Mike Brown finds it, he’ll jump all over naming it, and I’m sure that’s part of his motivation for hunting it so doggedly. He’s like that.

    • Lvxferre
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      28 days ago

      With two exceptions*, the names are from Roman mythology. So I’d expect the new planet to get a definitive name from the same template. (Please be Janus. It’s the gate of the solar system!)

      *Uranus is from Greek mythology, with no good Latin equivalent. Terra is trickier; you could argue that it fits the template for Latin and the Romance languages, but most others simply use local words for soil, without a connection to the goddess. That is also called Tellus to add confusion.

    • @Daxtron2@startrek.website
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      18 days ago

      It will likely be a Greek or Roman name in keeping with tradition. The IAU generally let’s the person/group that discovers have an influence in the decision but they’re the final say on the name.

      • The Bard in GreenOPA
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        27 days ago

        I had a roomate ten years ago who seriously believed in all that crap. Lizard people from the edge of the solar system here to claim our gold.

  • Optional
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    69 days ago

    Planet Nine from Outer Space

    . . . I’ll show myself out