What is Nemesis?

[Angra Mainyu]

Yeah--I know it's not at all certain that it exists at all. Assume that it does.

Is it a planet? No--planets are defined as clearing their orbital. Nemesis is too far out to have accomplished this within the current life of the solar system.

The lesser bodies are called dwarf planets. So what is it, a giant dwarf planet???

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it would probably be called "planet", and the "clearing" part will be interpreted creatively enough to make it work - or else, they will just redefine "planet" and call it a planet.
But that's a hunch.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Yeah--I know it's not at all certain that it exists at all. Assume that it does.

Is it a planet? No--planets are defined as clearing their orbital. Nemesis is too far out to have accomplished this within the current life of the solar system.

The lesser bodies are called dwarf planets. So what is it, a giant dwarf planet???

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it would probably be called "planet", and the "clearing" part will be interpreted creatively enough to make it work - or else, they will just redefine "planet" and call it a planet.
But that's a hunch.

Why not simply "rogue planet," as has already been mentioned?

 

[Angra Mainyu]

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that it would probably be called "planet", and the "clearing" part will be interpreted creatively enough to make it work - or else, they will just redefine "planet" and call it a planet.
But that's a hunch.

Why not simply "rogue planet," as has already been mentioned?

That usually means a planet-like object that is not orbiting a star.
In any case, my intuitive impression is that it would not be called a "rogue planet".
But we'll have to wait and see (or wait and see nothing if the thing isn't there)

 

[Angry Floof]

A terrible movie.

 

[BH]

Wasn't it orginally conceived as a red dwarf star circling the sun at about half a light year to a light year out? It was theorized to exist because it explained some extinction cycles on earth that were proven at the time. But there have been more extinction events proven to have taken place that do not correlate with the time frames of a red dwarf coming back into the OOrt Cloud when it was supposed to.

I remember when this theory came out back in the middle 80's. My dad taught science at a public school and for about two weeks that is all he and his fellow science teachers talked about.