by neufer » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:55 pm
Back in the 19th century Le Verrier forecast the existence of the planet Neptune based upon anomalies in the orbit of Uranus.
Le Verrier also forecast the existence of "the planet Vulcan" based upon anomalies in the orbit of Mercury.
These Mercury anomalies were later explained by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity but not before some interesting "sightings of the planet Vulcan"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hy ... al_planet)
.
Between 1866 and 1878 no reliable observations of the hypothetical planet were made. Then, during the total solar eclipse of 29 July 1878,
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/S ... Am1851.gif
two experienced astronomers, Professor James Craig Watson, director of the Ann Arbor Observatory in Michigan, and Lewis Swift, an amateur from Rochester, New York, both claimed to have seen a Vulcan-type planet close to the Sun. Watson, observing from Separation, Wyoming, placed the planet about 2.5 degrees southwest of the Sun, and estimated its magnitude at 4.5. Swift, who was observing the eclipse from a location near Denver, Colorado, saw what he took to be an intra-Mercurial planet about 3 degrees southwest of the Sun. He estimated its brightness to be the same as that of Theta Cancri, a fifth-magnitude star which was also visible during totality, about 6 or 7 minutes from the "planet". Theta Cancri and the planet were very nearly in line with the centre of the Sun.
Watson and Swift were excellent observers. Watson had already discovered more than twenty asteroids, while Swift had several comets named after him. Both described the colour of their hypothetical intra-Mercurial planet as "red". Watson reported that it had a definite disk – unlike stars, which appear in telescopes as mere points of light – and that its phase indicated that it was approaching superior conjunction.
This sounds like a comet to me such as SOHO observes:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030130.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html
What do you think?
Back in the 19th century Le Verrier forecast the existence of the planet Neptune based upon anomalies in the orbit of Uranus.
Le Verrier also forecast the existence of "the planet Vulcan" based upon anomalies in the orbit of Mercury.
These Mercury anomalies were later explained by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity but not before some interesting "sightings of the planet Vulcan"
[quote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)
.
[b]Between 1866 and 1878 no reliable observations of the hypothetical planet were made. Then, during the total solar eclipse of 29 July 1878,
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmap/SEmapNA/TSENorAm1851.gif
two experienced astronomers, Professor James Craig Watson, director of the Ann Arbor Observatory in Michigan, and Lewis Swift, an amateur from Rochester, New York, both claimed to have seen a Vulcan-type planet close to the Sun. Watson, observing from Separation, Wyoming, placed the planet about 2.5 degrees southwest of the Sun, and estimated its magnitude at 4.5. Swift, who was observing the eclipse from a location near Denver, Colorado, saw what he took to be an intra-Mercurial planet about 3 degrees southwest of the Sun. He estimated its brightness to be the same as that of Theta Cancri, a fifth-magnitude star which was also visible during totality, about 6 or 7 minutes from the "planet". Theta Cancri and the planet were very nearly in line with the centre of the Sun.
Watson and Swift were excellent observers. Watson had already discovered more than twenty asteroids, while Swift had several comets named after him. Both described the colour of their hypothetical intra-Mercurial planet as "red". Watson reported that it had a definite disk – unlike stars, which appear in telescopes as mere points of light – and that its phase indicated that it was approaching superior conjunction.[/b][/quote]
This sounds like a comet to me such as SOHO observes:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030130.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html
What do you think?