The Real Star Of This Planet Nine Discovery Is @PlutoKiller

By Kristy Puchko | Twitter | January 21, 2016 |

Sorry, Pluto, but it looks like the universe is moving on.

In 2006, Pluto’s demotion to a dwarf planet made the generations old mnemonic device “My Very Elderly Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” useless nonsense. But now researchers at the California Institute of Technology have uncovered evidence that suggests a ninth planet does spin far out in the sun’s orbit.

CNN reports that for now they’re calling it Planet Nine. Based on orbital evidence found in the Kuiper Belt, this likely planet is estimated to be ten times the size of Earth, and takes between 10,000 and 20,000 years to orbit our sun. So all aspiring astrologists pull out their telescopes because researcher Mike Brown says, “All those people who are mad that Pluto is no longer a planet can be thrilled to know that there is a real planet out there still to be found. Now we can go and find this planet and make the solar system have nine planets once again.”

A new planet is cool and all. But you know what’s cooler? Brown’s Twitter feed, which is full of gloriously geeky humor. For one, his handle is @Plutokiller, because yeah, he was integral in the former planet’s downgrade. For two, all of the following:

I'm just going to leave this here (courtesy of @miquai) pic.twitter.com/9Ftu6w8U3A
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 20, 2016

Retweeted:

Before he described #PlanetNine, @plutokiller's daughter told him to find another planet. https://t.co/ik5LXPPqXF pic.twitter.com/vqIFXBC280
— Amina Khan (@aminawrite) January 21, 2016

My front door when I arrived home. Plus a request to call Planet Nine the Lilah Planet. pic.twitter.com/RVLMiRL4G3
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 21, 2016

So where is Planet Nine and how bright is it? I finally have enough time to post. https://t.co/0w67OorQiX HINT: it is not super faint!
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 20, 2016

Seems like a good day to wear the planet socks. pic.twitter.com/83fMUwpU1E
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 20, 2016

.@plutokiller scrawled this to explain Planet X to me. Worth something on eBay someday? https://t.co/2OLSxLzvU7 pic.twitter.com/PmIgvz5PDp
— Eric Hand (@erichand) January 20, 2016

Hello, you 18,000 other Michael Browns out there. Don't do anything that makes us look bad. Like drowning New Orleans. Or killing planets.
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 17, 2016

I'm going home now. If anyone finds Planet Nine while I'm asleep DM me, OK?
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 21, 2016

Kristy Puchko nominates that we retcon the universe by naming Planet Nine “Pluto.”

Kristy Puchko is the managing editor of Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter.

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The Real Star Of This Planet Nine Discovery Is @PlutoKiller

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