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After all of the hullabaloo about Pluto that happened in 2006, many people have been disheartened by the fact the solar system only includes eight planets instead of the traditional nine. Those people are sure to be intrigued by the theories of two University of Louisiana-Lafayette professors, who believe that a massive, as-yet-undiscovered planet may exist within the solar system. The professors, Daniel Whitmire and John Matese, have dubbed the planet "Tyche," in honor of the Greek goddess who reigned over the fates of cities. In Greek, the word "tyche" means "fate" or "fortune." Whether the fate or fortune of Tyche turns out to mesh with the two scientists' beliefs remains to be seen.
Conjecture about the possible existence of planet Tyche has been stirring up a lot of debate within the scientific community. Matese and Whitmire originally came up with their theory in 1999. They based it on the fact that many long-period comets within the Oort cloud -- which is located about one light year from the sun -- display orbital peculiarities. Specifically, some of their clustering patterns are inclined to be elliptical, which suggests that something is disturbing their trajectories. If an unseen object is influencing their orbits, it would have to be larger than Jupiter; in fact, Whitmire and Matese believe it could be as much as four times larger than the current largest planet in the solar system.
The ultimate say on whether or not planet Tyche exists will come down to the International Astronomical Union, which is the same organization that stripped Pluto of its planetary designation in 2006. The IAU has laid out strict guidelines concerning what constitutes a planet; if Tyche does exist, it would have to meet each one of those guidelines to bring the solar system back to a total of nine planets. Scientists who disagree with Matese and Whitmire say that, if Tyche did exist, its presence would push comets out from the inner Oort cloud; that isn't happening. Either way, the existence -- or nonexistence -- of Tyche should be determined conclusively within the next two years.
http://news.yahoo.co...he_solar_system
