January 20, 2016 – Big news in the world of astronomy was announced this week.
Researchers at Caltech published their discovery on a “real” ninth planet.
Too bad for Pluto. If you recall, the former ninth planet was demoted to the status of a dwarf planet in 2006. With this new discovery, there’s really no chance of Pluto ever reclaiming its place in our solar system as the ninth rock from the sun. Additionally, this recently discovered planet was possibily the culprit of Pluto’s destruction eons ago.
According to the researchers, this real planet has the mass of ten Earths and has an incomprehensible huge, elongated orbit. A full orbit around sun would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete.
Wow! Facts like this make my head spin. To help to put this sort of timeline into perspective, here are some other interesting facts:
- Around 20,000 years ago, the Stone Age (aka the Paleolithic Period) ended which began 2.5 million years ago.
- Around 10,000 years ago, the last Ice Age ended.
- Around 4,580 years ago, construction of the Pyramids of Giza began.
- Around 2,230 years ago, construction of the Great Wall of China began.
- Around 76 years ago, Chuck Norris was born.
What’s even more incomphrensible, is if a Twinkie was produced 20,000 years ago, it would probably be still edible today. After all, just like how the universe has no edge and has no center, a Twinkie has no shelf life. Yeah, facts like these make my head spin and my mouth water.
Long live Pluto, Twinkies and Chuck Norris!)
