10th Planet Discovered
It appears a follow-up is in order in light of our possible finding of another planet (10th - Planet Xena) of our Solar System beyond Pluto. It is truly a new period of discovery when we receive the privilege of witnessing such a huge discovery where only 75 years have elapsed since the scientific discovery of Pluto.
This is definitely a sign that science, technology and the world is moving into another era which will only serve to broaden our understanding of the universe
in which we live. This newly found planet dubbed 2003UB313 - Xena is about three times as
far from the Sun as Pluto and might definitely be larger given the nature of the size and mass differences of our larger outer planets like Saturn as compared to the smaller ones with dense Iron cores closer to the Sun like the Earth. This new discovery according to Space.com (Mike Brown of Caltech) will be visible over the next six months (with a telescope) almost overhead in the early- morning eastern sky observed in the constellation Cetus (Cetus is a Latin word for Whale).
This is an interesting find in light of having previously in years past observed an interesting ancient Sumerian tablet depicting possibly 10 terrestrial objects (spheres) orbiting the Sun with one being roughly the same size as Uranus which portrayed the placement of the 10th object at a much greater distance from the Sun in comparison to the others. Largely I am interested in the discovery of this new planet and projection of this objects orbit pattern which appears on the tablet as if it was not following the standard elliptical orbit around the Sun in the same fashion. Gravitational acceleration affects of the Sun would definitely be interesting if this turns out to be a planet larger than Pluto considering where it is now located and how it might be moving in relation to Pluto(9th), Neptune(8th) and Uranus(7th).
20th Century Discovery of Planetary bodies
Percival Lowell performed several searches for new planets in 1913-15 but overlooked Pluto which was not discovered until February 18, 1930. Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona was searching for additional outer planets which would explain discrepancies in the predicted orbit of Uranus and Neptune. Although we still do not know for sure that this new find is really a planet science is going to have an interesting time with this discovery which may turn out to be much different that what we know so far considering Pluto and Neptune and their unique gravitational behavior combined with Pluto’s highly eccentric orbit. Just what it is for sure they recently found will take some time and effort to study and understand. I think there will be many amateur astronomers out there interested in this find as well as the professionals like those at NASA. Studying the stars is indeed very fun, educational and interesting especially in the 21st century where we have excellent telescopes, digital cameras and communications technologies delivering to us the digital universe pixel by pixel taking us to new horizons thru the mysteries and discoveries of the unchartered waters of our universe.
"It will be visible over the next six months and is currently almost directly overhead in the early-morning eastern sky, in the constellation Cetus." -Mike Brown of Caltech (Space.com)
Sign of Jonah (The Whale - Matthew 12:38-40)
Something like this discovery makes me wonder just how much the ancient Astronomers knew. I marvel over their unique symbols as well as how these ancient civilizations (Sumerians) learned so much about the solar system. The Hebrew Old Testament like other dated text seem to refer to objects which would come from the Heavens bringing with them signs, and changes. Signs can be found in the writings of Genesis, Job, Matthew, Isaiah, Habakkuk and the Psalms where heaven declares the glory and mystery of God (thru celestial events and signs) and the fact that the earth will become filled with this knowledge. I especially took notice to the correlations with this and Matthew 12:38-40 the sign of the prophet Jonah to be given. Since signs like the Rainbow (Genesis 9:11-17) were given to Noah some might consider this a significant find in light of the biblical scholars of the 17th century whom considered Cetus as a stellar depiction of the Whale that swallowed Jonah. This for sure was an area of direct interest for me when I found out about the nature of this new discovery. I think it very important that we find peace with God thru the words of the scriptures which can teach us much about ourselves and the universe in which we live. Thru this I am reminded of the omnipotence of God and his creation which will always further serve to prove the existance of God whom gave us the light in our eyes.
"My first reaction was, 'aw, I lost the bet by seven days." -Mike Brown of Caltech (Space.com)
Read about this new planetary discovery and explore new horizons:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050729_large_object.htmlhttp://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050729_new_planet.htmlhttp://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1539933,00.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_%28planet%29#Discovery_and_naminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CetusFor a more philosophical and Biblical perspective on signs and the Heavens:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%209:8-17;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2012:38-40;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:37-42;&version=31http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jonah&version=31;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonahhttp://xfacts.com/iraq2003/1.html (Anchient Artifacts from British Museum - IRAQ)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Smith_%28Assyriologist%29Weather Anomalies (Mars crossed the sea of Pisces - Mira Cetus on 07/30/2005 15:12 GMT):
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1539742,00.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=585&e=3&u=/nm/20050731/sc_nm/hurricane_dc (Global Warming Kerry Emanuel - MIT)
http://www.sociopranos.com/forums/thread-view.asp?threadid=520&start=1Light in your Eyes:
http://www.tophitsonline.com/lyrics.php?songid=5718http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_050728.html (Jesus Coin Discovery)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=73&chapter=22&verse=16&version=31&context=versehttp://www.vcomsoft.com/gallery/rainbow.htm (Genesis 9:13)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:14-16;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202:2;&version=31; http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2038:7http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2013;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=11&chapter=4&verse=29&version=31&context=versehttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%209:1-10;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:8-12;&version=31;http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%202:9-10;&version=31;http://www.sociopranos.com/forums/thread-view.asp?threadid=678&posts=1"Oops it looks like God is the master of the universe and is still with us (Immanuel)..."