Planet X

[[File:Planet X over Mount Wilson Observatory.jpg|thumb|165px|Planet X, coming to a webcam near you]]{{sources needed}}{{pseudoastronomy}}
{{hatnote|Were you looking for Zecharia Sitchin's Planet [[Nibiru]], which is sometimes conflated with Planet X?}}
'''Planet X''' is a place-holder name used by [[astronomer]]s in their search for a [[planet]] beyond the orbit of [[Neptune]] (or more commonly among astronomers, "Planet Nine", since the demotion of [[Pluto]]).<ref>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hidden-planet-nine-solar-system-evidence-may-not-hold-up Signs of a hidden Planet Nine in the solar system may not hold up: A remote planet isn’t ruled out, but evidence for one may be an illusion] by Lisa Grossman (February 22, 2021 at 6:00 am) ''Science News''.</ref> They found Pluto, although it was later demoted to a "[[dwarf planet]]" when it was discovered to be a part of a larger population of small trans-Neptunian objects. Today, modern professional astronomers searching for new planets beyond Neptune prefer the term "Planet Nine" instead of "Planet X". "Planet X" is also the term favored in several apocalyptic [[prediction]]s and [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracies]] to refer to a hypothetical badass-sounding planet that will kill us all.

==In astronomy==
In the period when Pluto was still considered a (non-dwarf) planet, the name was used again for any hypothetical trans-Neptunian "tenth planet," with the "X" doubling as the Roman numeral for "10". The discovery of [[Eris]] was at first hailed as the elusive "Planet X", but the discovery of other similar but much smaller objects between the orbits of the two caused people to realise that there was no good definition of "planet", so they made one… and had to demote Pluto and by extension, Eris (and to promote the [[asteroid]] [[Ceres]], but most people don't seem to give a damn about it).

The existence of additional bodies like Pluto were initially predicted by looking at the orbits of the other planets &mdash; a model with 8 planets didn't seem to stack up against the evidence. If any other significant planets existed, but had yet to be directly spotted, their gravitational effect would be very visible as perturbations in the orbits of the other known planets and would account for the discrepancies then thought to exist between the planets' predicted and observed orbits. As it happened, the errors in observation (and the errors in guessing the known planets' masses) completely accounted for the discrepancies, and no astronomer today believes there are any undiscovered massive bodies perturbing the observed orbits.<ref group=note>Note that by "errors", scientists don't mean "mistakes."  They mean the imprecision with which existing equipment could make measurements.</ref>

However, some astronomers have suggested in January 2016 that the eccentric orbits of some bodies of the Kuiper Belt could be explained by the presence of a {{wpl|Planet_Nine|ninth}} (not tenth) planet<ref group=note>Some astronomers even talk about [https://newatlas.com/warped-kuiper-belt-planet-ten/50173/ yet another planet] in those far reaches of the Solar System</ref> a bit less massive than Uranus or Neptune and that would move in a very eccentric orbit around the Sun, that would need thousands of years to complete. Note in any case that not all astronomers share that idea, it is ''entirely'' hypothetical until and unless we find it, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Nibiru or other similar things.

==Conspiracies==
In the 1990s and early 2000s, [[Nancy Lieder]] claimed that a tenth planet — Planet X — would pass by Earth in 2003, causing cataclysmic events, possibly topped with an [[alien invasion]]. After the date passed, the Planet X story became incorporated in the [[2012 apocalypse]] claims. It is supposed to be the same as [[Zecharia Sitchin]]'s "twelfth planet" [[Nibiru]] and the names are often used interchangeably or joined with a slash ("Planet X/Nibiru"), but Sitchin's original prediction was for the return of Nibiru in 2085. There is very little evidence that any planet like this exists.

==Hercólubus==

{{main|Hercólubus}}

[[Hercólubus]] is another tenth planet, proposed by the [[Brazil]]ian [[medium]] Hercilio Maes and other authors who seemingly copied its "work". The thing was expanded by the 
LSD user
 [[Colombia]]n [[gnostic]] Rabolú in a mess that includes insults to [[scientist]]s, a planet six times as large as [[Jupiter]] that will cause a [[pole shift]], volcanic eruptions, as well as an unstoppable deadly [[epidemic]], more insults to scientists, lack of understanding of [[Newton]]'s [[law of gravity]], even more insults to scientists, descriptions of life and morale of [[Venus]]ians and [[Martian]]s, and yet even more insults to scientists. 

Supposedly the thing destroyed [[Atlantis]] 13,000 years ago, was going to be visible at dawn in 1999, and when it approached to 4 AU would mess with us. As of 
2018
 
2019
 
2020
 
2021
 
2022
 now, it seems that either Galactus or Unicron ate it as a snack.<ref group=note>Or that the [[Fun:Star Wars|Death Star]] used it for target practice. Who cares?</ref>

==Wormwood==
Planet X has been syncretized with Wormwood, the star from the [[Book of Revelation]] prophesized to smash into 33% of rivers and springs:<ref>http://www.texemarrs.com/022003/planet_x.htm</ref><ref>http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/hercolobus/esp_hercolobus_0.htm</ref><ref>''The Return of Planet-X: Wormwood'' by Jaysen Q. Rand & Shusei Nagaoka (2007) Futureworld Publishing. ISBN  0977920917.</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20190918193345/http://planetxnews.com/2016/01/24/the-revelation-sign-of-planet-x-in-2017/</ref>

{{quotebox|
And the third [[angel]] sounded, and there fell a great [[star]] from [[heaven]], burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. — ({{bible|Revelation|8|10|11}})}}

As if ''that'' won't destroy us. Also, in post-Iron Age [[astronomy]]: a ''planet'' is not a ''[[star]]''.

==See also==
*[[The Aetherius Society]] — another group of UFOlogists promoting Planet X
*[[Comet Elenin]] is a cover for Planet X, according to some nutters
*[[Neumayer Station]]
*The [[Church of the SubGenius]] claims that Planet X (not part of Earth's Solar system) is the home of the Benevolent Space Brothers who will exterminate humanity.
*[[Nibiru]]
*[[List of predictions of the end of the world]]

==External links==
*[http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/ Bad Astronomy &mdash; The Planet X Saga], [[Phil Plait]]'s debunking page at the old Bad Astronomy site, dealing with Nancy Lieder's and Mark Hazelwood's original claims about Planet X coming in 2003.
*[http://www.2012hoax.org/planet-x Planet X] at 2012hoax.org
*All [http://pseudoastro.wordpress.com/category/planet-x/ Planet X] posts at the ''Exposing Pseudoastronomy'' blog
*[http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/planets/our-solar-system/ep-159-planet-x/ Planet X, episode #159] of ''Astronomy Cast'' (covers both the search for a trans-Neptunian planet and the conspiracy theories)
*[http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2012/09/things-you-need-to-do-before-announcing.html Things You Need To Do Before Announcing You have Found Niburu (or Planet X or Tyche)], some advice to wannabe doomsday planet discoverers on YouTube (and elsewhere)

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|1|80%}}

[[Category:2012 woo]]
[[Category:Pseudoastronomy]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:End of the world]]
[[Category:Ufology]]
[[Category:Additional planets]]

Categories: 2012 woo, Pseudoastronomy, Pseudoscience, End of the world, Ufology, Additional planets