Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
1–10 of 48 posts
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#2How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#3How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
The difficulty in changing the known laws of physics is that they still have to apply to everything else that has already been observed correctly. So it's probably true that there is another planet out there given these observations, but it's not impossible that the laws of physics themselves need further adjustments.
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#4How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
This, ether, and dark matter. The equations don’t agree with observations so we invent a thing we have not observed to explain it. I wish it would be explained like this in popular science, went to a planetarium and they presented dark matter as absolute fact.
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#5We’re pointing the JWT pretty far out, so why wouldn’t we just point a camera at this thing?
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#6How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
The difficulty in changing the known laws of physics is that they still have to apply to everything else that has already been observed correctly. So it's probably true that there is another planet out there given these observations, but it's not impossible that the laws of physics themselves need further adjustments.
The article doesn't even state it this strongly. The claim is that planet 9 is the best explanation. Another explanation offered is that there was a previous planet that affected the existing planet's orbits and it is no longer there.
The article also notes that this claim is being made by the same scientist that popularized the idea of a planet 9.
There is plenty of room for doubting this specific planet 9 claim without changing any laws of physics.
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#7How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
This, ether, and dark matter. The equations don’t agree with observations so we invent a thing we have not observed to explain it. I wish it would be explained like this in popular science, went to a planetarium and they presented dark matter as absolute fact.
For the average person, dark matter should be presented as absolute fact. It's the leading explanation that best explains most of the associated phenomenon, and the average person has repeatedly shown themselves to be unable to understand what a scientist means when they call something a theory.
Emphasizing that we haven't explicitly discovered what dark matter actually consists of inevitably leads to people who don't understand the evidence dismissing it as "made up" and instead pushing explanations that have a much higher burden of proof (eg modified gravity or modified light speed, which struggle on the point that there are structures which have more or less "extra mass" than usual).
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#8We’re pointing the JWT pretty far out, so why wouldn’t we just point a camera at this thing?
Point it where? We don't know exactly where to look, and it might be far out enough to be barely visible. Pointing a telescope at it requires a precise location.
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#9In undecided between naming it Krypton, Gallifrey or keep the old tradition of making dirty jokes with planet's names and bet directly for planet Titooine.
Re: Scientists say they have found evidence of an unknown planet in our solar system
#10How is this different than when we pretended there was another planet, Vulcan, to reconcile Newtonian physics with the unexplainable phenomenons physicists noticed until others and eventually Einstein came along to prove that the theory was wrong ?
To be fair, this is also more or less how we found Neptune. Boring, simple explanations are often the right ones. Not every horse is secretly a zebra.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_Neptune
- "The planet Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23–24, 1846,[1] at the Berlin Observatory, by astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (assisted by Heinrich Louis d'Arrest), working from Le Verrier's calculations. It was a sensational moment of 19th-century science, and dramatic confirmation of Newtonian gravitational theory. In François Arago's apt phrase, Le Verrier had discovered a planet "with the point of his pen"."