Amateur Astronomers help to find a new planet. Is it Nibiru?

New planet discovered 15,000 light years from earth Photo from online Astrobiology Magazine

I’ve been discussing the fears that there may be a conspiracy to keep secret the arrival of a new planet called Nibiru that is somehow going to cause the end of the world on December 21, 2012.

NASA Astrobiologist David Morrison says he doesn’t know an astronomer, professional or amateur, who could be made to keep silent about something as exciting as finding a new planet.

For example, two amateur astronomers in New Zealand helped professional astronomers at Ohio State University to discover a new planet far, far away from our solar system. The new planet is 15,000 light years away, which means that it takes light 15,000 years to travel from the new planet to here. As a comparison it takes only 8 minutes for light to travel from our sun to here. Even if this new planet was on its way to earth, it would take it longer than 15,000 years to get here since a planet travels much slower than light.

And because two amateur astronomers in New Zealand helped detect the planet using only their backyard telescopes, the find suggests that anyone can become a planet hunter.

Backyard Astronomers Discover Planet

By the way, this is not the legendary perhaps fictional Nibiru since Nibiru is supposed to be close to or within our solar system.

Astronomers have NOT kept secret the discovery of planet Nibiru

In yesterday’s post, I quoted NASA astrobiologist David Morrison as saying that astronomers would not keep secret the discovery of a new planet such as Nibiru, because, “astronomers of the world, both professional and amateur, are a free-spirited group who couldn’t keep a secret even if ordered to,…”

I’d have to agree with Dr. Morrison. You have to remember that many astronomers, both professional and amateur, are looking for new planets in the night sky.

You can imagine that if you found a new planet, you would want the world to know before one of the other astronomers scanning the night skies for new planets found it and claimed the discovery.

Therefore, not only do astronomers reveal whatever they find, they try to publish the information as soon as possible so they can be the first on record as finding it.

If Nibiru had been found, whoever had found it would let the world know they had found it. Nibiru is supposed to be a portent of the 2012 doomsday.

In conclusion, astronomers have not kept secret the discovery of planet Nibiru, because it has not appeared, except in books about the theory of the return of planet Nibiru.

Planet Nibiru should be here by now

I love this quote from NASA astrobiologist David Morrison. He is referring to allegations that there is a conspiracy to keep secret from the public that: 1. a rogue planet is heading for earth (since 2003 but strangely, it hasn’t got here yet), 2. This rogue planet has a 3,600 year orbit and was discovered by the ancient Mesopotamians who called it Nibiru, 3. The ancient Maya knew about this planet and associated it with the end of the world in 2012. Evidently many people believe the information is being kept secret from the public. These people believe that Nibiru would be visible with the naked eye in 2009 (and should therefore now in 2012 be really visible with the naked eye but is not) and even before that time, the earth’s axis would be tilting (I assume more than it is tilted presently) causing a change in the length of the day. Morrison’s answer to those to accuse astronomers of keeping this information secret is:

I was introduced to this conspiracy theory in December 2007, when I began to receive questions about Nibiru submitted to NASA’s “Ask an Astrobiologist” Web site. I normally receive about a dozen questions per week from the public dealing mostly with life in the universe, but sometimes they include UFOs and visiting aliens. Nibiru seemed different, since it was claimed to be an actual planet that was being tracked by astronomers but hidden from the public. Knowing that the astronomers of the world, both professional and amateur, are a free-spirited group who couldn’t keep a secret even if ordered to, I assumed that Nibiru was the sort of Internet rumor that would quickly pass.
~ The Myth of Nibiru and the End of the World in 2012

NASA on Planet Nibiru, 2012 and the end of the world

If you’re looking for some real scientific answers to questions about Nibiru, 2012, and the end of the world, here’s a great NASA website in which NASA Space Scientist David Morrison answers questions such as the following. Check it out, there’s also a video.

6. There are many photos and videos of Nibiru on the Internet. Isn’t that proof that it exists?
The great majority of the photos and videos on the Internet are of some feature near the Sun (apparently supporting the claim that Nibiru has been hiding behind the Sun for the past several years.) These are actually false images of the Sun caused by internal reflections in the lens, often called lens flare. You can identify them easily by the fact that they appear diametrically opposite the real solar image, as if reflected across the center of the image. This is especially obvious in videos, where as the camera moves, the false image dances about always exactly opposite the real image. Similar lens flare is a source of many UFO photos taken at night with strong light sources such as streetlights in the frame. I am surprised that people don’t recognize this common photo artifact. I am also amazed that these photos showing something nearly as large and bright as the Sun (a “second sun”) are accepted together with claims made on some of the same websites that Nibiru is too faint to be seen or photographed except with large telescopes.

Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers

According to Guatemala Maya, the end of the world is NOT nigh!

A Guardian UK article by Kevin Rushby says:

In Guatemala City I sought out Antonio Cuxil, a Mayan and an expert on the Mayan calendar. He explained that 2012 was mentioned in just one place in all the Mayan writings: on a stone inscription dating from around 700AD found in Mexico.

“It is the end of a 5,126-year cycle, that’s true, but there is no mention of the end of the world. People seem to have got that from the Dresden Codex [a pre-Columbian volume of Mayan writings now in the State Library of Dresden]. But in that record there is no mention of 2012.”

The End of the World is Nigh? Not What the Guatemala Mayans Say

Mayan Mythology, 2012, and the end of the world

A Live Science article by Benjamin Radford addresses the doomsday meaning of the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21 2012. Radford says that:

In fact, the link between global catastrophe and Mayan calendar-based prophecy is largely fiction. Ads for “2012” begin with the phrase, “The Mayans warned us,” though of course the Mayans did not “warn” anyone — they simply had a calendar system that happens to “end” in 2012, much as the way the Gregorian calendar on my office wall “ends” on Dec. 31.
The Truth about 2012 Doomsday Hype

The 2012 End of the World View attempts to reconcile two conflicting beliefs: Lorenzo DiTommaso

Lorenzo DiTommaso, professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal, says that the worldview of expecting an end of the world, whether on December 21, 2012, or at some other time, is a very persistent and powerful way of understanding the world.

He says that when people feel as if the world is out of control and beyond their comprehension, a belief in the end of the world returns order to the world.

“Problems have become so big, with no solutions in sight, that we no longer see ourselves able as human beings to solve these problems,” DiTommaso said. “From a biblical point of view, God is going to solve them. From other points of view, there has to be some sort of catastrophe.”

The apocalyptic worldview springs from a desire to reconcile two conflicting beliefs.

“The first is that there is something dreadfully wrong with the world of human existence today,” he said. “On the other hand, there is a sense that there is a higher good or some purpose for existence, a hope for a better future.”

Viewing the world as a flawed place headed toward some sort of cosmic correction reconciles these two beliefs, DiTommaso said.

The Draw of Doomsday: Why people look forward to the end

Mayan end of the world prophecies influenced by Spanish conquerers

Interestingly, Europeans feared the end of the world as long ago as the 1500s, during the time the Spanish were exploring and conquering the Americas. The 2012 end of the world mania is not new.

Notably, Hoopes said, Mayan end-of-the-world prophecies don’t appear in the historical record until after the group made contact with Christian missionaries — a bunch of people with their own strong beliefs about the end of days.
In fact, astrological end-time predictions were popular in the 1500s, when Franciscan missionaries began voyaging to the New World. In 1524, Hoopes said, an astrological conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter spurred fears of a second Great Flood, touching off panic.
“They were actually preparing for this catastrophe by buying real estate on high places and by stocking up on whatever the 16th-century equivalent of duct tape and bottled water was,” Hoopes said.
Biblical doomsday predictions would have certainly made it to Mayan ears, Hoopes said. In other words, Mayan prophecies simply appropriated Christian theology.
“The world for the Mayas really did end in the Spanish conquest,” Hoopes said. “So they incorporated that into their explanation of what was happening to them.”
11/11/11 How Friday is Tied to the Mayan Apolocalypse

2012 Mythology thought up by people on drugs

John Hoopes, a Mayan history scholar from the University of Kansas says that:

“If it seems like the 2012 mythology was thought up by people on drugs, it’s because it was.”
~ 11/11/11 How Friday is Tied to the Mayan Apocalypse

An interesting concept, in my humble opinion.

2012 discussion with friends

Yesterday I enjoyed visiting with friends and discussing the 2012 end of the world prophecies as well as their research into Edgar Cayce’s psychic predictions for earth changes in 2012.