On Oct. 21, 2003, astronomers at the Palomar Observatory took pictures of the night sky. Those photographs caught the light of an object 9, 428 million miles away, roughly twice as far away as Pluto. On July 29 of this year, NASA introduced Earth to the tenth planet.
But Earth did not respond. No one seems to know about 2003UB313. I consider this cosmic-position adjusting, textbook-altering discovery to be important news. So, what’s the hold-up?
Throughout the past half-millennium, humanity’s conception of its cosmic importance has taken several hits. The first and most damaging of these is the tragedy of the Copernican Revolution, during which, with significant social and religious resistance, Copernicus and Galileo clearly demonstrated that the Sun does not orbit the Earth. Discoveries during the 20th century regarding the mind-bending size and age of the Universe have proven to humanity that it has little or no influence on anything farther than 10 miles away from Earth. Is this tenth planet just another object sapping humanity’s sense of importance in the universe, or is something else going on here?
The reason that the media has shied away from this story may originate from the lack of an exact definition of the word “planet.” Dictionary definitions offer only vague guidelines. The necessary size of a solar orbiting body is “larger than a comet or asteroid” in some, and simply “large” according to others. Some scientists do not even count Pluto as a planet; most place it in a completely different category. It does not have Jupiter’s grandeur, Mercury’s proximity, Saturn’s rings or Earth’s life. It is a relatively small, icy, cold, dead rock. 2003UB313, however, is a slightly larger icy, cold, dead rock. Astronomers measure the size of an object by the amount of light it reflects. If 2003UB313 is reflecting all of its light, which is not likely, it would be about the size of Pluto. If the composition of the planet resembles Pluto’s, 2003UB313 would be larger than Pluto. There is no doubt. If Pluto is a planet, 2003UB313 is a planet.
The Kuiper belt, which houses both Pluto and 2003UB313, contains at least 78 other “bright” objects. Perhaps the story has been kept quiet in order to slow its integration into global culture. If the tenth planet is popularized, perhaps people will try to push objects like 2003EL61 and 2005FY9 that are three-fourths of Pluto’s size into the class of “planet.” What would it do to our sense of cosmology if we had 23 planets?
Perhaps it has to do with distance. 2003UB313 is at the far-end of its 560-year orbit, which places it 97 earth distances (AUs) from the sun. Are distance and interest directly related?
Maybe people aren’t catching on because the name “2003UB313” is a poor name for a planet. It falls far short of the power and authority of “Jupiter” and “Saturn.” The scientists should have waited until they found the proper Greco-Roman deity to name it after.
Perhaps consciousness of the Universe has become unimportant. After all, what can this type of knowledge be used for? People seem more interested in their direct environment and the potential dangers associated with it. They are more concerned with 9-11s, tsunamis, and hurricanes. These issues are pressing and demand attention and preparation. Although 2003UB313 is a massive piece of material, the only threat it poses to Earth is lowering humanity’s sense of importance. The only way the public would turn their eyes toward 2003UB313 is if it was predicted to collide with Earth.
Robert Talamantez is a senior dance and geology double major. He may be contacted at [email protected].
