NEW PLANET FOUND.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 452, 10 March 1909, Page 11

NEW PLANET FOUND.

—; » — : ANNOUNCEMENT OF A GREAT DISCOVERY. News of the existence of a new major planet)'situated beyond Neptune, announced on the authority of Professor Pickering, of Harvard College Observatory. U.S.A., has been received by the Solar Physics Observatory; South Kensington. Professor Pickering has, however, calculated its orbit sufficiently to learn that it is far to the north, in right ascension, 7h, 4min. in declination, plus 21deg. A slight by Neptune led him to deduce its existence. It is evidently small, as its effect on Neptune is slight. A circular (No. 144) t has been issued by Harvard University inviting astronomers to join in the search for the new planet, which is believed to bo located in the constellation Gemini. Photographs of this region of the sky have already been taken with the 24in: Bruce tclescope' at Arcquipa, but not fully examined, and other telescopes aro at work upon it. British astronomers have not been unprepared for_the discovery of a great planet even beyond Neptune. Professor George Forbes, F.R.S., has at various times calculated that the movements of a certain group of comets which visited the solar system in 1843, 1880, and 1882 were influenced by some body about one hundred times more distant from the sun than tho earth is, and with a year equal to ono thousand of our years. As the distanco of Neptune is 2791 million mile 3 from the sun, Professor Forties's planet would bo over 8000 million miles from the sun. Dr. Norman Lockyer, of tho Solar Physics explained how tho search would be carried out. Photographs having been taken, these would bo studied for indications of an unknown object, and then plates of different dates would be compared to see if that object had moved. It would probably bo some considerable time before the existence of the planet was definitely • -^rmod.