Tyche, the TENTH Planet
There is a rumor floating around that the WISE project data might discover an ice giant somewhere out in the Oort cloud
The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche, would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s, and 375 times farther than Pluto’s, which is why it hasn’t been seen so far.
My comment: exciting news, but the newspapers keep referring to this as a NINTH planet, when Clyde Tombaugh discovered a ninth planet long ago, Yuggoth on the Rim, also called Dis, before he vanished under mysterious circumstances from his observatory at Arkham.
This ninth planet, known to Earthlings as Pluto, has been visited by many species, including the Mi-Go, the hivequeen creatures we call ‘Wormface,’ and the more friendly Palainians.
And historians of future events, psychohistorians, long have recalled and lamented the Battle of Pluto in AD 2194, where our brave Captain Avatar was defeated by the forces of Leader Desslok of Gamelon, and Derek Wildstar’s brother was lost.
And we all remember (or, would remember if it were in our past rather than our future) the astonishing day in AD 2106 when Kzanol the Slaver ignited the entire surface of Pluto while he and his telepathic duplicate in the Earthman Greenberg were racing to find the telepathic amplifier of the Thrint.
And what of the Icehenge, a mysterious monument left by aliens at Pluto’s north pole?
Shall all these great events and teaming mysteries be simply swept aside so that some upstart planet named Tyche can claim to be the Ninth Planet? I say no, no, a thousand times no. It is time for a Day of Rage, an armed revolt, followed by bloodshed and terror, mass executions, and the revival of gladiatorial combat between scientists to determine the correctness of their theories. The method of determining things by conferences and consensus has clearly failed.
Besides, the frozen gas giant in the Oort Cloud is supposed to be called Nemesis. This was established in Poul Anderson’s THE STARS ARE ALSO FIRE.
In other news (er, three year old news) a few sane scientists, wishing to avert the Plutonian wrath of the Great Old Ones, are urging the scientific community to return Pluto’s honor, before it is too late!
I believe the Science Fiction Writer’s Association of America should come out with a strongly worded statement supporting the planetary status of Pluto. Since, as writers of space opera, not being allowed to use Pluto as a planet and a background in our stories, and having no place to put space-Eskimos, the demotion of Pluto directly affects our livelihood and our ability to do our jobs.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
