SOLAR SYSTEM
LATEST'DISCOVERY. COMET THEORY DISCUSSED. Dr. Jackson, of tho Royal Obsorvatory, in a letter to tho London Times, says he thinks the supposed ninth planet, discovered by the Jxiwell Observatory (Arizona), may be a comet, not a planet. Ho points out that in recent years a number of faint distant comets have been found on photographic plates. Such a discovery may alter astronomers’ ideas of the distribution of comets in outer parts of ihe solar system. “The Lowell Observatory’s search lor a faint, exterior planet,” says Dr. Jackson, “might lead to tho discovery of distant comets, which may be fairly numerous, though very faint. “Tho observatory’s very unusual object may actually bo a planet, but it is more reasonable to treat it as a comet, especially as it appears to have a volume only about one-fifth of that predicted. This oan only he explained by considering it a very bad reflector of sunlight and of something like the density of platinum.”
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 115, 11 April 1930, Page 7
Word Count
162SOLAR SYSTEM Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 115, 11 April 1930, Page 7
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