© Sara Chodosh(Click to enlarge) From the sun to Pluto and beyond, our solar system holds the ghosts of mysterious celestial bodies.
Astronomers have spent centuries filling in their sketches of our corner of the Milky Way. But these charts, like all maps, are only approximations of reality. Their blind spots likely harbor some unknown entities — bodies too small, too close to the sun, or too far away for us to see. Here are some celestial objects that stargazers have suspected of dodging their telescopes over the years.
Vulcan and the vulcanoids
Astronomers once interpreted
an oddity in Mercury's orbit as a sign of a planet hiding in the sun's rays. Einstein's theory of gravity explained it away, but
the zone could harbor asteroids ("vulcanoids"). They'd be small: NASA's twin sun-observing STEREO spacecrafts would have spotted any wider than a few miles.
Lost ice giantIn digital reenactments of its early days, the solar system gets rowdy. Near collisions between planets end with Jupiter sending Uranus or Neptune flying in 99 simulations out of 100. Yet both remain. One explanation:
A third body took the hit. Calculations hint that a massive, icy planet could have tussled with Jupiter and lost.Planet 9Hundreds of specks appear clustered beyond Neptune, a hint that
something up to 10 times as massive as Earth might lie beyond. A large planet could supply the necessary gravitational influence to pull them in. New evidence for this celestial body — possibly a rogue world from interstellar space — was unveiled in 2016.NemesisSemiregular extinctions on Earth suggest a dim companion star might have periodically careened by, showering us with meteorites dragged in its wake. But any such sibling is gone. A 2010 sky survey found thousands of new stars, some just six light-years away. Nemesis, which would lie at one-quarter that distance, was absent.
hmmm.... i had this thought... kinda reminds me of how:
the theatre light always goes dim before the main feature begins...
but first, before the main feature, we endure the crappy loud obnoxious commercials and previews: covid, covid-the wef strikes back, covid-the clone wars...blah blah blah... commercials seem to go on for ever.
we know the commercials and previews are over when the theatre lights get even darker but the screen gets really bright and everything goes quiet...and the film begins.
we watch the flick, some like it, some don't, a few stay to watch the credits, the lights come on...and we head back home... maybe to do it all again another day