After Neptune was discovered in 1846, astronomers observed irregularities in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. This led them to believe that there might be another planet beyond Neptune. They called this “Planet X.” It has also been called Nibiru.

Astronomers gave up searching for the unseen planet after measurements of Neptune obtained from the Voyager 2 suggested that inaccuracies calculating the mass of Neptune could explain the irregularities in Uranus’s orbit.

But maybe they gave up looking for Nibiru too quickly. In fact, now European astronomers believe there may be two Nibirus, each bigger than Earth, in orbit far beyond Pluto.

The scientists are from the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Cambridge. They are waiting until two giant telescopes, the James Webb and the E-ELT, are completed. With the use of these telescopes, they hope to confirm the existence of the two Nibiru “Super Earths.”

Like their nineteenth century counterparts, these modern astronomers believe there may be hidden planets in our solar system because they have observed gravitational effects from an unseen source. In this case, the astronomers have been watching a belt of space rocks known as “extreme trans-Neptunian objects,” or ETNOs. These ETNOs orbit the Sun beyond Neptune. The space rocks show unexpected orbital characteristics that could be caused by gravity from a massive but unseen planet. Or planets.

Professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, an astronomer from the Complutense University of Madrid, told Time magazine: “We have unpublished calculations that suggest that there could be two planets with between 2 and 15 times the mass of the Earth.”

He added that if these super-size planets exist, they would be located about four times as far away as the outer limit of Pluto’s orbit. That’s almost 40 billion kilometers from the sun.

“If large planets do exist, these planets must be very dark,” he said.

Mainstream media typically discount theories about the existence of a Nibiru planet. But this is not the first time reputable scientists have acknowledged that there may be undiscovered planets in our solar system. Japanese researchers announced in 2008 that according to their calculations, there should be an undiscovered planet beyond Pluto’s orbit. This Nibiru planet was estimated to be up to two-thirds the size of Earth.

Previous theories said that Nibiru may be a rogue planet. Rogue planets, also called orphan planets or castaways, can be flung out of orbit from the stars that gave them birth. Astronomers have discovered orphan planets the size of Jupiter floating through space.

“Although free-floating planets have been predicted, they finally have been detected,” said Mario Perez, exo-planet program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “[This has] major implications for models of planetary formation and evolution.”

Fortunately, the orphan planets discovered so far are located 10,000 to 20,000 light years from Earth.

A word of warning – even if the two planets are confirmed, it may take years for the International Astronomical Union to vote them into the solar system. In August 2006 the IAU voted to downgrade Pluto, which had been the ninth planet in our solar system, to a “dwarf planet”.

Official names for the two planets haven’t been proposed yet. May we suggest “Nibiru” and “Planet X”?

For more information about exo-planet research, visit http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/.

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