However, a tenth planet's existence has long been suspected [and
debated], particularly as Pluto is "too small to account for Neptune's
orbital disturbance." [Roy Stemman, Mysteries of the Universe, London, 1991,
pg. 112]. Recently, the discovery of a planet "at least the size of Jupiter"
and "one million million miles" from us [Daily Telegraph 8 October,1999] was
announced. But this is too far out to be Planet X, for which there have
been many "false dawns". These include the infamous Vulcan allegedly
observed inside Mercury's orbit in 1859 by a French doctor and amateur
astronomer, Lescarbault. Even Le Verrier was convinced, and a medal was
struck in commemoration! Oddly, the reverse depicts 9 planets, including
Vulcan.
Remember, at this time, Pluto's existence was unsuspected, so only 8 were
known. So what was the other planet? According to the 18th century law of
Johann Bode, concerning relative planetary distances from the Sun, where the
Asteroid Belt lies between Mars and Jupiter, should be another planet. Three
theories have been offered for its formation:
According to Sitchin, in the space occupied by the Belt, were originally
two planets: Marduk and Tiamat. The former was "a wandering planet, thrust
into the Solar System by an unknown cosmic event" [ibid.], which sounds not
unlike Velikovsky's "birth" of Venus from Jupiter [see The Winged Disc]. In
that article I mentioned that Nibiru/Marduk by-passed Earth 13,000 years ago
probably causing the end of the last Ice Age and the Great Flood.
Further back, it seems, Marduk had smashed Tiamet and its satellites
leaving behind asteroids and comets. From this catastrophe, Sitchin claimed,
the Earth and Moon or Kingu were created. This is how Sitchin side-stepped
criticism regarding the insufficiency of asteroidal matter for planetary
formation. It could also be the reason for Uranus' bizarre 98 degree axial
tilt, the Moon showing the same face to Earth, and other "anomalies" in our
Solar System, such as
Throughout its history, Earth has experienced several mass extinctions,
the most famous [and studied] happening 65 million years ago. The main cause
in each case was probably asteroidal collision. Alford suggests the earliest
may've occurred between 4.6 and 4 billion years ago, thereby accounting for
the absence of lifeform evidence "in the fossil record...in the first 600
million years." [Ibid., pg. 147]. There has been endless speculation as to
how life began, but many scientists favour an extraterrestrial origin from
another cosmic body, either planetary [Mars has been suggested], asteroidal
or via a meteor shower. These follow in the wake of comets [as the Leonids
recently did with Temple-Tuttle]. Was this the origin of amino acids, the
"building blocks" of DNA [see Do Pictures?], and our oceans? [And could
this be the "star seed" mentioned in ancient mythologies?] In fact, in 1991,
asteroid fragments 4.5 billion years old were found in the Atacama Desert,
Chile.
Recent discoveries by oceanographers include hot springs and volcanic
vents on the Atlantic and Pacific sea floors supporting strange and primitive
lifeforms that "must have been the first to emerge on Earth 3.8 billion years
ago" [Daily Telegraph, 10 September 1998]. This is very close to Alford's
date... .
As astronomers find planets around other stars, one a gaseous giant just
50 light years away [Daily Telegraph, 23 November 1999], this means We Are
Truly Not Alone. The producer of that stunning series The Planets said
Bearing in mind Stemman's comment viz. Pluto, astronomers locate "alien"
worlds by detecting stellar gravitational "wobble" and via using infrared
photography. Thanks to the HST [our Eye in the Sky] we are finding out so
much more about our "neighbours"... . Happy New Millennium to All, wherever
you are.
Cosmic Conundrums
There are nine planets presently known in our Solar System, though
Pluto's status has often been disputed. Escaped Neptunian moon or a planet?
The International Astronomical Union apparently resolved the matter in
February 1999 when they decided not to "demote" Pluto, despite sceptics
saying it was "too insignificant" for consideration. I feel that Clyde
Tombaugh's 1930 discovery is on par with Herschel finding Uranus [1781] and
Galle and d'Arrest locating Neptune [1846], though based on calculations by
J.C. Adams and U.J. Le Verrier.
by JJ1. Debris from an unformed "proto-planet"; or
Intriguingly, Einstein favoured the third. Zecharia Sitchin in The
Twelfth Planet (the Sumerian Solar System had 12) [1976], though, put a
strong case for the second idea based on Babylonian mythology. Both he and
Velikovsky argued that early civilizations used heavenly "battles" between
"gods" to explain astronomical events they witnessed. With this in mind,
Sitchin sought to interpret the 4000 year old epic Enuma Elish. Alford, in Gods of the New Millennium, said Sitchin was claiming that the Enuma actually
detailed "the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago!" [Pg. 140]
2. Planet/planets destroyed during a collision with another body; or
3. Planet/planets that disintegrated. But was it natural? For example, the
clearly unstable Uranian moon Miranda occasionally "self-destructs" and
reassembles the fragments. "the great red spot of Jupiter, the retrograde rotation of Venus and
the eccentric orbit of Pluto. And then there are the moons of Mars,
Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter...."
Phobos and Deimos [Martian], Almathea [Jovian], several Saturnian
satellites and Pluto's Charon, are asteroidal. Jupiter's moons orbit the
planet in three distinct groups and on different planes. What became of
Marduk is uncertain, but, by aligning Babylonian gods with planets, I found
he corresponded to either Mercury or Jupiter.
[Ibid., pg 146]
"We are one solar system among millions. Even as the Earth dies,
there will be new planets being formed around billions of stars."
• Readers wishing to discuss any points raised by the
. .author of this article can e-mail JJ at: DSh8521036@aol.com
