The Attack of Planet X and The Death Star
from the August 09, 2011 eNews issuehttp://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)
Planet X:
Planet X, the long-sought-after 10th planet of our solar system, is rumored to be swinging by Earth just in time for all the other 2012 end-of-the-world predictions. Planet X, aka Nibiru, has been the subject of much discussion for decades. During the past few years interest has been renewed as Nibiru's return is expected to cause vast devastation to the earth, flipping its poles and killing billions of people. Fortunately - or unfortunately - for Earth dwellers, however, Nibiru has yet to show even a glimmer of his face.
"Planet X" is the name for the fantasy planet beyond the recognized members of our solar system. Pluto also bore the name "Planet X" for a time, until this 9th planet was discovered and the search for further planets continued. The "Planet X" came from Percival Lowell who built a private observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, and devoted considerable effort to his searches before he died in 1916. Clyde Tombaugh began his searches in 1929, and found Pluto in February 18, 1930. He searched for 13 more years and examined more than 30,000 square degrees of the sky. He found one new globular cluster, five new open star clusters, one new supercluster of 1800 galaxies, and several new small galaxy clusters, one new comet, about 775 new asteroids - but no new planet except Pluto.
In his book The 12th Planet (1978), Zecharia Sitchin popularized the idea that the ancient Sumerians knew of another planet far beyond Pluto. The Akkadian seal appears to show the sun and 11 planets (if the moon is counted as a planet). While unknown to today's astronomers, Sitchin argues that the Sumerians were familiar with the planet and its 3600 year elliptical orbit. Using questionable allusions in the Sumerian and biblical texts, Sitchin argues that that inhabitants of Nibiru - the Anunnaki - were responsible for genetically engineering the humans of today by crossing their DNA with the DNA of primitive humans.
Certain groups have taken these ideas and run with them. They predicted that Nibiru would show up in May 2003, which (unless Nibiru is invisible and massless) it did not. They are now offering a December 2012 date for Nibiru's return, a convenient co-incident with the end of the Mayan "long count" calendar. There are even detailed descriptions of Nibiru and its inhabitants. Some believers say they have received telepathic messages from these aliens living on Nibiru, who claim their planet is a star-ship. Whether these ideas are based on communications from aliens, deceptive spiritual beings, or too much late-night Star Trek, believers are convinced that Nibiru is approaching quickly.
However, the evidence is not on the side of the Planet X crowd. Even with the exceedingly fast rate of approach one would expect of the severe elliptical orbit Nibiru is supposed to have, no fantasy planet will pass by the earth in December 2012. If it were on its way, the planet would be one of the brightest objects in the night sky by now. Astronomers would have been following its approach for the past decade. Yet, Planet X is still not visible with the strongest telescopes, and no reputable astronomer has verified its existence.
Ultimately, the fantasy of Planet X flies far stronger than the science, and the planet should be considered with as much concern as any other science fiction story.
The Death Star:
It is also boringly unlikely that Nemesis, The Death Star, lurks past the edge of our solar system. In 1984, paleontologists suggested that exinctions in the fossil record occurred about every 27 million years. It was proposed that a brown dwarf companion to our sun flew out there, periodically splashing through the Oort Cloud and knocking comets our way - giant, dinosaur-killing comets - causing devastation in cycles.
Experts shook their heads, "No." A study published in the Royal Astronomical Society Letters last year concluded that even if Nemesis existed, the brown dwarf wouldn't offer us a convenient, predictable, comet-bumping orbit. Apparently, we do not have to worry about death by meteor-ing next year. The 27-million-year cycle of destruction claimed by the geologists is just an illusion.
"There is a tendency for people to find patterns in nature that do not exist," said Coryn Bailer-Jones, a researcher at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. "Unfortunately, in certain situations traditional statistics plays to that particular weakness."
Star Parties:Some folks are taking the end of the world scenarios as an opportunity for fun. On Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, the Big Sky Astronomical Society in Alberta, Canada plans to host an End of the World Star Party from 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. at the Big Sky Observatory.
"Bring your Y2K survival gear and come join us, as the Ancient Mayan Calendar comes to an end, " said James Durbano, president of the Big Sky Observatory Society. "We will be observing the waxing gibbous moon, Jupiter and its four large moons and the Orion Nebula. We will also be keeping an eye out for Planet X, Nibiru, comets and asteroids, since all of these objects may collide with the earth on that evening, according to doomsday theorists."
Durbano added wryly, "In addition, we will be looking for UFOs full of aliens who plan to abduct us, enslave us, and then annihilate our planet."
In other words, whether or not Nibiru or Nemesis have it out for us, we should get out under the stars and enjoy the vast, beautiful universe around us.
"Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" - Job 22:12Related Links:
"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite." - Psalm 147:4-5
• 2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End? - NASA
• Planet X, 1841-1992 - University of Arizona
• Believing the Unbelievable - Koinonia House
• Search For Planet X - X Facts
• Nemesis No More? Comet-Hurling 'Death Star' Most Likely a Myth - Space.com
• Death Start Debunked - MSNBC
• Perseid Viewing Scheduled At Big Sky Observatory - The Prairie Post
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