Hacker forced new planet discovery out of the closet
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:33 am
Astronomers announced Friday that an object they discovered in the distant reaches of the solar system is large enough to be the 10th planet -- a claim likely to reignite a debate over just how many objects should be called planets.
The object -- 96 times as far from the Earth as the Earth is from the sun, or nearly 9 billion miles away -- was first photographed in October 2003 by astronomers at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory, north of San Diego.
This artist's concept, released by NASA, shows the planet catalogued as 2003UB313.
Looks like we have 10 planets in our solar system now!! Good thing hackers figured it out.
The object -- 96 times as far from the Earth as the Earth is from the sun, or nearly 9 billion miles away -- was first photographed in October 2003 by astronomers at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory, north of San Diego.
This artist's concept, released by NASA, shows the planet catalogued as 2003UB313.
Looks like we have 10 planets in our solar system now!! Good thing hackers figured it out.
The sad part is they were not going to tell us for some time, but thanks to some hackers we got the info early!It's icy, rocky and bigger than Pluto and, according to scientists who found it orbiting the Sun, it's the newest planet in our solar system.
It is the farthest-known object in the solar system - currently 14,4 billion kilometres away from the Sun, or about three times Pluto's current distance from the Sun.
Source: Sunday IndependentThe briefing was hastily arranged after Brown received word that a secure website containing the discovery had been hacked and the hacker had threatened to release the information.