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Stanley D. Reid
Inspector
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 270
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 12:18 pm: | 
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Hi all,
Recently, what is being called the tenth planet was discovered but was the tenth planet really Pluto? Between 1789 and 1845, several astronomers reported seeing an object transiting the face of the Sun which seemed to be circling inside the orbit of Mercury. They calculated its size and orbit and called it the Planet Vulcan. After 1845, they watched to see it make its appointed appearance but it did not. Some thought that it was so close that the Sun had finally swallowed it up. Were they correct or were they seeing things or were they seeing something else like an arrant asteroid?
Stan |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 4813
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 12:52 pm: |
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Hi Stan
It's difficult to believe that there was a tenth planet near the sun, because that would mean that it had gone unnoticed by the ancient civilizations.
Robert |
Stanley D. Reid
Inspector
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 271
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 1:31 pm: |
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Hi Robert,
I think the explanation was that it was so close to the Sun that it could only be seen through a telescope while in transit. The whole thing could have been a hoax but enough people in wide ranging areas over a long period of time said they saw it so I think that would be very unlikely. That doesn't mean I believe that it was a planet, although, I won't completely rule that out either.
Stan |
Robert Charles Linford
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Robert
Post Number: 4814
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 3:21 pm: |
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Hi Stan
i've been glancing through the "Times." This question was discussed throughout the nineteenth century, and it was even suggested that there were several objects within the oribit of Mercury!
This is an extract from an article Nov 1st 1960 :
Robert |
Stanley D. Reid
Inspector
Username: Sreid
Post Number: 272
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 4:49 pm: |
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Hi Robert,
Thanks for that interesting contribution. I've wondered about sunspots but they would travel accross the face of the sun much slower than a planet orbiting that close in. Maybe those astronomers were just seeing what they wanted to see sort of like the canals on Mars.
Stan |
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