“RUNAWAY PLANET”
EXPECTED TO RETURN
BACK IN THREE YEARS
CAPETOWN, Jan. II
The “baby planet” which nearly collided with the earth last October, and which was first observed by Dr. Reinmuth, the Heidelberg scientist, has now been named the “Runaway Planet.”
It will return within three years, according to the astronomer, Dr. A. W. Long, but is unlikely again to approach so close to the earth for many years. Dr. H. W. Wood, the Unibn astronomer, expresses the opinion that the measured track of the planet is so small that it is impossible to determine the course with any exactitude. If it does re-cross the earth’s orbit it does not follow that ne earth will be in that particular section of the planet’s orbit. A sky photograph taken on October 27 shows the planet only as a streak, 1.5 millimetres long. Its shortness is due to the fact that the planet was travelling towards the earth almost end-on. The planet was originally 40 times too faint to be perceived by the naked eye, but at its brightest whs six times too faint to be perceived. Its brightness suggests that it was five miles in diameter.
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Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19550, 4 February 1938, Page 5
Word Count
195“RUNAWAY PLANET” Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19550, 4 February 1938, Page 5
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