Caltech Researchers Find Evidence of a Planet Beyond Pluto

Re:Caltech Researchers Find Evidence of a Planet Beyond Pluto by hmahncke on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @12:48PM (#10939889)

Also, we don't know where in its orbit the planet happens to be right now. If we're lucky, it's relatively close to the sun, and it will be detectable. If we're unlucky, it's relatively far away from the sun, and it could easily be undetectable by current observatories because the orbit is so eccentric.

[Source: I saw Mike Brown give a talk on this topic at the Cal Academy of Sciences, where he hoped he was lucky...]

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Re:Caltech Researchers Find Evidence of a Planet Beyond Pluto by abecedarius on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @04:38PM (#10941570)

Note that an eccentric orbit spends most of its time out in the far reaches, since it moves much slower out there. The odds are against the happy case.

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