A NEW PLANET.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 13 December 1901, Page 4

A NEW PLANET.

Astronomers are on the outlook for a nW planet beyond the orbit of Neptune, wbich is at present the outermost member of the solar system. It has not been seen and perhaps never will be, but its existance is suspected because apparently some large body in its supposed neighbourhood has interfered with a famous comet. In 1264 this comet was observed; in 1556 that is to sav 292 years later—the visitor came again; but, instead of returning in 1848, it came back four years earlier, in 1844, In other words, the comes of 1844 is believed to be the one that was due in 1848. Its path had been shortened, and calculations render it probable thai; about the year 1705, while rushing through, space, it came so near to a large body that its parabolic orbit was changed to an elipsa Professor G. Forbes, in a paper read before the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh, computes that this hypothetical planet is considerably larger than Jnpiter, which is by far the hugest of the sun's attendant worlds, and is about 100 times farther from the sun than our earth—or about 9,300,000,000 miles.