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'{{About|the doomsday scenario|other uses|Nibiru (disambiguation){{!}}Nibiru}} <!--- NOTE: Before mentioning the recent ninth planet hypothesis, Sumerian myth, Zecharia Sitchin, or the IRAS satellite, please read the rest of the article --> {{Infobox pseudoscience |image = V838 Mon HST.jpg |caption = [[V838 Monocerotis]], a [[variable star]] accompanied by a [[light echo]], has been erroneously portrayed as an approaching planetary object on a collision course with Earth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/photogalleries/2012-movie-end-of-the-world-pictures/photo2.html |title=Pictures: 2012 Doomsday Myths Debunked |date=2009-11-06 |website=National Geographic News |access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref> |claims = Earth's imminent collision or near miss with a giant planetoid |topics = [[Astronomy]], [[archaeology]] |origyear = 1995 |origprop = Nancy Lieder |currentprop = Marshall Masters, Jaysen Rand, Mark Hazlewood, Pana Wave }} The '''Nibiru cataclysm''' is a supposed disastrous encounter between the [[Earth]] and a large planetary object (either a collision or a [[Near-Earth object|near-miss]]) which certain groups believe will take place in the early 21st century. Believers in this [[Risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth|doomsday event]] usually refer to this object as ''[[Planet X]]'' or ''Nibiru''. The idea that a planet-sized object will collide with or closely pass by Earth in the near future is not supported by any scientific evidence and has been rejected by astronomers and planetary scientists as [[pseudoscience]] and an Internet [[hoax]].<ref name=govert>{{cite book|title=The Hunt For Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto|author=Govert Schilling |author-link=Govert Schilling|publisher=Copernicus Books|page=111|isbn=0-387-77804-7}}</ref><ref name="NASA2012dec22">{{cite web |title=Beyond 2012: Why the World Didn't End |date=2012-12-22 |publisher=NASA |url=http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html}}</ref> The idea was first put forward in 1995 by Nancy Lieder,<ref>{{cite web|title=A Guarantee: The World Will Not End On Friday|author=Marcelo Gleiser|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/12/19/167530202/a-guarantee-the-world-will-not-end-on-friday|date=2012|accessdate=2013-04-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Scientists reject impending Nibiru-Earth collision|publisher=NASA|url=http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/scientists-reject-impending-nibiru-earth-collision|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref><!--- NOTE: Before mentioning Sumerian myth or Zecharia Sitchin, please read the rest of the article --> founder of the website ZetaTalk. Lieder describes herself as a [[contactee]] with the ability to receive messages from [[extraterrestrials]] from the [[Zeta Reticuli]] star system through an implant in her brain. She states that she was chosen to warn mankind that the object would sweep through the inner [[Solar System]] in May 2003 (though that date was later postponed) causing Earth to undergo a physical [[Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis|pole shift]] that would destroy most of humanity.<ref>{{cite web|title= Nancy Lieder's biography|author=Nancy Lieder|publisher=zetatalk.com|url=http://zetatalk.com/nancybio.htm|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> The prediction has subsequently spread beyond Lieder's website and has been embraced by numerous Internet doomsday groups, most of which linked the event to the [[2012 phenomenon]]. Since 2012, the Nibiru cataclysm has frequently reappeared in the popular media; usually linked to newsmaking astronomical objects such as [[Comet ISON]] or [[Planet Nine]]. Although the name "Nibiru" is derived from the works of the [[ancient astronaut]] writer [[Zecharia Sitchin]] and his interpretations of [[Babylonia]]n and [[Sumerian mythology|Sumerian]] mythology, he denied any connection between his work and various claims of a coming apocalypse. ==Origins== <!--- NOTE: Before mentioning the recent ninth planet hypothesis, Sumerian myth, Zecharia Sitchin, or the IRAS satellite, please read the rest of the article --> [[File:Nancy Lieder 2.jpg|thumb|Nancy Lieder]] The idea of the Nibiru encounter originated with Nancy Lieder,<!--- NOTE: Before mentioning Sumerian myth or Zecharia Sitchin, please read the rest of the article --> a [[Wisconsin]] woman who claims that as a girl she was [[contactee|contacted]] by [[Grey alien|gray extraterrestrials]] called [[Zeta Reticuli|Zetas]], who implanted a communications device in her brain. In 1995, she founded the website ZetaTalk to disseminate her ideas.<ref name=zeta>{{cite web|title=zetatalk|author=Nancy Lieder|date=2009|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/|accessdate=2009-10-03}}</ref> Lieder first came to public attention on Internet [[newsgroups]] during the build-up to [[Comet Hale–Bopp]]'s 1997 [[perihelion]]. She stated, claiming to speak as the Zetas,<ref>{{cite web|title=ZetaTalk Hale–Bopp|author=Nancy Lieder|date=1995|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/poleshft/p46.htm|accessdate=2015-11-09}}</ref> that "The Hale–Bopp comet does not exist. It is a fraud, perpetrated by those who would have the teeming masses quiescent until it is too late. Hale–Bopp is nothing more than a distant [[star]], and will draw no closer."<ref name=phil>{{cite web|title=The Planet X Saga: Nancy Lieder|author=Phil Plait|publisher=badastronomy.com|url=http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/lieder.html|accessdate=2009-04-28|authorlink=Phil Plait}}</ref> She claimed that the Hale–Bopp story was manufactured to distract people from the imminent arrival of a large planetary object, "Planet X", which would soon pass by Earth and destroy civilization.<ref name=phil/> After Hale–Bopp's perihelion revealed it as one of the brightest and longest-observed comets of the last century,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Kidger| first = M.R. | author2 = Hurst, G | author3 = James, N. | date=2004 | journal = Earth, Moon, and Planets | volume = 78 | issue=1–3 | pages = 169–177 | title = The Visual Light Curve Of C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) From Discovery To Late 1997 | url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/h72381014307x661/ | doi=10.1023/A:1006228113533 | bibcode=1997EM&P...78..169K}}</ref> Lieder removed the first two sentences of her initial statement from her site, though they can still be found in [[Google]]'s archives.<ref name=phil/> Her claims eventually made the ''[[New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title= Comets Breed Fear, Fascination and websites|author=George Johnson|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/28/us/comets-breed-fear-fascination-and-web-sites.html?sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all|accessdate=2009-09-27 | work=The New York Times | date=1997-03-28}}</ref> Lieder described Planet X as roughly four times the size of the Earth, and said that its closest approach would occur on May 27, 2003, resulting in the Earth's rotation ceasing for exactly 5.9 terrestrial days. This would be followed by the Earth's pole destabilising in a [[Pole shift hypothesis|pole shift]] (a ''physical'' pole shift, with the Earth's pole physically moving, rather than a [[geomagnetic reversal]]) caused by magnetic attraction between the Earth's core and the magnetism of the passing planet. This in turn would disrupt the Earth's magnetic core and lead to subsequent displacement of the Earth's crust.<ref>{{cite web|title= Pole Shift Date of May 27, 2003|author=Nancy Lieder|publisher=zetatalk.com|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/index/psdate1.htm|accessdate=2009-09-18}}</ref> After Lieder, the first person to propagate her Planet X idea was Mark Hazlewood, a former member of the ZetaTalk community, who in 2001 published a book titled ''Blindsided: Planet X Passes in 2003''. Lieder would later accuse him of being a confidence trickster.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Zetatalk|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/index/hazelwod.htm|title= Mark Hazlewood Scam|accessdate=2009-04-12}}</ref> A [[Japanese new religions|Japanese cult]] called the [[Pana Wave Laboratory]], which blocked off roads and rivers with white cloths to protect itself from electromagnetic attacks, also warned that the world would end in May 2003 after the approach of a tenth planet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pana Wave Cult Raises Concern Among Japanese Authorities|author= Steve Herman|publisher=Voice of America|date=2003|url=http://www.culteducation.com/reference/pana_wave/pana_wave34.html|accessdate=2009-10-02}}</ref> Roughly a week before the supposed arrival of Planet&nbsp;X in May 2003, Lieder appeared on [[KROQ-FM]] radio in [[Los Angeles]], and advised listeners to [[Animal euthanasia|euthanize]] their pets in anticipation of the event as she had done.<ref name=youtube>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B6QDSzq1A0 Nancy Leider: Kill your Pets Before the '03 Pole Shift], an excerpt from the KROQ-FM interview</ref> This led the [[Fortean Times]] to conclude that she had put down her dog(s) to save them from further suffering during the Pole Shift.<ref name=Fortean>{{cite web|title=Planet Waves |publisher=Fortean Times |author=Mark Pilkington |date=2003 |url=http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/198/planet_waves.html |accessdate=2010-06-27 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005172531/http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/198/planet_waves.html |archivedate=October 5, 2014 }}</ref> Later, in a 2004 interview she said that she had euthanized her dog because it was acting aggressively.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wake Up USA interview|date=2004|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/index/wakeupt1.htm}}</ref> After the 2003 date passed without incident, Lieder said that it was merely a "[[white lie]]&nbsp;... to fool [[the establishment]]."<ref>{{cite web|title=Pole Shift in 2003 Date|date=2003|publisher=zetatalk|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/index/psdate.htm|accessdate=2009-04-12}}</ref> She refused to disclose the true date, saying that to do so would give those in power enough time to declare [[martial law]] and trap people in cities during the shift, leading to their deaths.<ref>{{cite web|title=ZetaTalk: White Lie|date=2003|publisher=zetatalk.com|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/index/psdate2.htm|accessdate=2009-04-12}}</ref> Though Lieder herself has not specified a new date for the object's return, many groups have taken up her idea and cited their own dates. One frequently cited date was December 21, 2012. This date had many [[2012 phenomenon|apocalyptic associations]], as it was the end of a cycle ([[baktun]]) in the [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar|long count]] in the [[Mayan calendar]]. Several writers published books connecting the encounter with 2012.<ref name=morrison2/> Despite that date having passed, many websites still contend that Nibiru/Planet X is en route to Earth.<ref name=ison/> In 2012, Lieder claimed that U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] futilely attempted to announce the presence of Nibiru near the sun.<ref>{{cite web|title=ZetaTalk Newsletter|issue=316|author=Nancy Lieder|date=2012|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue316.htm|accessdate=2014-12-12}}</ref> After 2012, she claimed that several [[Head of state|world leaders]] had intended to announce the presence of Nibiru near the sun on October 20, 2014. Two weeks after the supposed date of announcement, she claimed that it did not occur because of consternation amongst [[the establishment]].<ref>{{cite web|title=ZetaTalk Newsletter|issue=423|author=Nancy Lieder|date=2014|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue423.htm|accessdate=2014-12-12}}</ref> ===Zecharia Sitchin and Sumer=== [[File:ZechariaSitchin.png|thumb|upright|Zecharia Sitchin]] Although Lieder originally referred to the object as "Planet X", it has become deeply associated with ''Nibiru'', a planet from the works of [[ancient astronaut]] proponent [[Zecharia Sitchin]], particularly his book ''The 12th Planet''. According to Sitchin's interpretation of Babylonian religious texts, which contradicts conclusions reached by credited scholars on the subject,<ref name=heiser>{{cite web|title=The Myth of a Sumerian 12th Planet|url=http://www.michaelsheiser.com/nibiru.pdf|author=Michael S. Heiser|accessdate=2009-06-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Zecharia Sitchin|publisher=The Skeptic's Dictionary|url=http://skepdic.com/sitchin.html|accessdate=2009-09-18}}</ref> a giant planet (called Nibiru or [[Marduk]]) passes by Earth every 3,600 years and allows its [[Sentience|sentient]] inhabitants to interact with humanity. These beings, which Sitchin identified with the [[Annunaki]] of Sumerian myth, would become humanity's first gods.<ref>{{cite book|title=The 12th Planet|author=Zecharia Sitchin|publisher=Harper|date=1976|page=120|isbn=0-939680-88-2}}</ref> Lieder first made the connection between Nibiru and her Planet X on her site in 1996 ("Planet X does exist, and it is the 12th Planet, one and the same.").<ref name=sitch/> However, Sitchin, who died in 2010, denied any connection between his work and Lieder's claims. In 2007, partly in response to Lieder's proclamations, Sitchin published a book, ''The End of Days'', which set the time for the last passing of Nibiru by Earth at 556 BC, which would mean, given the object's supposed 3,600-year orbit, that it would return sometime around AD 2900.<ref>{{cite book|author=Zacharia Sitchin|title=The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return|publisher=William Morrow|date=2007|page= 316|isbn=978-0-06-123921-2}}</ref> He did however say that he believed that the Annunaki might return earlier by spaceship, and that the timing of their return would coincide with the shift from the astrological [[Age of Pisces]] to the [[Age of Aquarius]], sometime between 2090 and 2370.<ref>''The End of Days'' p. 320</ref> ==Scientific rejection== Astronomers reject the idea of Nibiru, and have made efforts to inform the public that there is no threat to Earth.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Richard A. Kerr |title= Into the Stretch for Science's Point Man on Doomsday |journal=Science|pages= 928–9 |volume= 333 |date=2011-08-19|bibcode = 2011Sci...333..928K |doi = 10.1126/science.333.6045.928 |issue= 6045 |pmid= 21852465 }}</ref> They point out that such an object so close to Earth would be easily visible to the naked eye. A planet such as Nibiru would create noticeable effects in the orbits of the outer planets.<ref>{{cite web|title= The Planet X Saga: Science|author=Phil Plait|date=2003|url=http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html#orbits|publisher=badastronomy.com|accessdate=2009-04-02}} (this page relates to the initial supposed 2003 arrival, but holds just as well for 2012)</ref> Some counter this by claiming that the object has been concealed behind the Sun for several years, though this would be geometrically impossible.<ref name=morrison2>{{cite web|title=Update on the Nibiru 2012 "Doomsday"|author=David Morrison|publisher=Skeptical Inquirer|url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/update_on_the_nibiru_2012_doomsday|accessdate=2009-09-18}}</ref> Most photographs showing "Nibiru" by the Sun are in fact [[lens flare]]s, false images of the Sun created by reflections within the lens.<ref name=lens>{{cite web|title=Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers |author=David Morrison |publisher=NASA |url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers |accessdate=2014-12-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606142712/http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers |archivedate=June 6, 2009 }}</ref> Astronomer [[Mike Brown (astronomer)|Mike Brown]] notes that if this object's orbit were as described, it would only have lasted in the Solar System for a million years or so before Jupiter expelled it, and that there is no way another object's magnetic field could have such an effect on Earth.<ref name=mike>{{cite web|title=I do not ♥ pseudo-science|author=Mike Brown|publisher=Mike Brown's planets|date=2008|url=http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2008/02/i-do-not-pseudo-science.html|accessdate=2009-04-12}}</ref> Lieder's assertions that the approach of Nibiru would cause the Earth's rotation to stop or its axis to shift violate the laws of physics. In his rebuttal of [[Immanuel Velikovsky]]'s ''[[Worlds in Collision]]'', which made the same claim that the Earth's rotation could be stopped and then restarted, [[Carl Sagan]] noted that, "the energy required to brake the Earth is not enough to melt it, although it would result in a noticeable increase in temperature: The oceans would [be] raised to the boiling point of water&nbsp;... [Also,] how does the Earth get started up again, rotating at approximately the same rate of spin? The Earth cannot do it by itself, because of the law of the [[conservation of angular momentum]]."<ref>{{cite book|title=Scientists Confront Velikovsky|date=1977|author=Carl Sagan|chapter=An Analysis of ''Worlds in Collision'': Introduction |editor=Donald-W. Goldsmith |publisher= Cornell University Press |isbn=0-8014-0961-6 }}</ref> In a 2009 interview with the [[Discovery Channel]], Mike Brown noted that, while it is not impossible that the Sun has a distant planetary companion, such an object would have to be lying very far from the observed regions of the Solar System to have no detectable gravitational effect on the other planets. A Mars-sized object could lie undetected at 300&nbsp;[[Astronomical unit|AU]] (10 times the distance of Neptune); a Jupiter-sized object at 30,000&nbsp;AU. To travel 1000&nbsp;AU in two years, an object would need to be moving at 2400&nbsp;km/s&nbsp;– faster than the galactic [[escape velocity]]. At that speed, any object would be shot out of the Solar System, and then out of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy into intergalactic space.<ref>{{cite web|title=Where are you hiding Planet X, Dr. Brown?|author=Ian O'Neil|publisher=Discovery News|date=2009|url=http://news.discovery.com/space/mike-brown-planetx-pluto.html|accessdate=2010-07-17}}</ref> ==Conspiracy theories== Many believers in the imminent approach of Planet X/Nibiru accuse [[NASA]] of deliberately covering up visual evidence of its existence.<ref name=morrison/> One such accusation involves the [[IRAS]] infrared space observatory, launched in 1983. The satellite briefly made headlines due to an "unknown object" that was at first described as "possibly as large as the giant planet [[Jupiter]] and possibly so close to Earth that it would be part of this Solar System".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/127658362.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+30%2C+1983&author=By+Thomas+O%27Toole+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post++(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=Mystery+Heavenly+Body+Discovered|title=Mystery Heavenly Body Discovered|work=[[Washington Post]]|accessdate=2008-01-28|author=Thomas O'Toole|page=A1|date=1983-12-30}} Subscription required. See full version copy [http://planet-x.150m.com/washpost.html here]</ref> This newspaper article has been cited by proponents of the Nibiru cataclysm, beginning with Lieder herself, as evidence for the existence of Nibiru.<ref>{{cite web|title=The IRAS Incident |publisher=badastronomy.com|author=Phil Plait|date=2002|url=http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html|accessdate=2009-04-09}}</ref> However, further analysis revealed that of several initially unidentified objects, nine were distant galaxies and the tenth was "[[infrared cirrus|galactic cirrus]]"; none were found to be Solar System bodies.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Unidentified IRAS sources: Ultra-High Luminosity Galaxies|display-authors=3|author= J. R. Houck|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|volume=290|date=1985 |bibcode=1985ApJ...290L...5H |pages= 5–8|doi=10.1086/184431|author2= D. P. Schneider|author3= G. E. Danielson|last4=Beichman|first4=C. A.|last5=Lonsdale|first5=C. J.|last6=Neugebauer|first6=G.|last7=Soifer|first7=B. T.}}</ref> [[Image:V838 Monocerotis expansion.jpg|thumb|NASA images showing the expansion of a light echo around V838 Mon, between 2002 and 2004]] Another accusation frequently made by websites predicting the collision is that the U.S. government built the [[South Pole Telescope]] (SPT) to track Nibiru's trajectory, and that the object has been imaged optically.<ref name=myth>{{cite web|title=The Myth of Nibiru and the End of the World in 2012|author=David Morrison|publisher=Skepical Enquirer|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/2008-05/morrison.html|accessdate=2009-04-28}}</ref> However, the SPT (which is not funded by NASA) is a radio telescope, and cannot take optical images. Its South Pole location was chosen due to the low-humidity environment, and there is no way an approaching object could be seen ''only'' from the South Pole.<ref>{{cite web|title=If Nibiru Is a Hoax...|author=David Morrison|date=2008|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2008/10/27/1283/|publisher=NASA|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> The "picture" of Nibiru posted on YouTube was revealed, in fact, to be a [[Hubble telescope|Hubble]] image of the expanding [[light echo]] around the star [[V838 Mon]].<ref name=myth/> Another conspiracy claim regards a patch of missing data in [[Google Sky]] near the constellation of Orion, which has often been cited as evidence that Nibiru has been [[Redaction|redacted]]. However, the same region of sky can still be viewed by thousands of amateur astronomers. A scientist at Google said that the missing data is due to a glitch in the stitching software used to piece the images together.<ref name=dave>{{cite web|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers |title=Ask an Astrobiologist: Introduction |publisher=NASA |accessdate=2014-12-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905055011/http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers |archivedate=September 5, 2010 }}</ref> Another piece of claimed evidence drawn from Google Sky is the [[carbon star]] [[CW Leonis]], which is the brightest object in the 10 μm infrared sky and is frequently claimed to be Nibiru.<ref name="CWLEO">{{cite web |date=2009-08-26 |title=Nibiru it is Not. |publisher=Astroblog |author=[http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com/gras-monthly-heads-up/author/musgrave Ian Musgrave of GRAS telescopes] |url=http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2009/08/nibiru-it-is-not.html |accessdate=2011-08-24}}</ref> ==Misappellations== Believers in Planet X/Nibiru have given it many names since it was first proposed. All are, in fact, names for other real, hypothetical or imaginary Solar System objects that bear little resemblance either to the planet described by Lieder or to Nibiru as described by Sitchin. ===Planet X=== Lieder drew the name Planet X from [[Planets beyond Neptune|the hypothetical planet]] once searched for by astronomers to account for [[Discovery of Neptune#Irregularities in Uranus's orbit|discrepancies in the orbits]] of [[Uranus]] and [[Neptune]].<ref name=sitch>{{cite web|title=Planet X|publisher=zetatalk.com|url=http://www.zetatalk.com/science/s58.htm|date=1996|accessdate=2009-04-30}}</ref> In 1894, Bostonian astronomer [[Percival Lowell]] became convinced that the planets Uranus and Neptune had slight discrepancies in their orbits. He concluded that they were being tugged by the gravity of another, more distant planet, which he called "Planet X".<ref name="Pluto guide">{{cite web |url = http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050311_pluto_guide.html |title = Finding Pluto: Tough Task, Even 75 Years Later |author= J. Rao |publisher= SPACE. com |date=2005-03-11 |accessdate=2006-09-08 }}</ref> However, nearly a century of searching failed to turn up any evidence for such an object ([[Pluto]] was initially believed to be Planet X, but was later determined to be too small).<ref>{{cite book |title= Planet Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems | author=Ken Croswell |location= New York |publisher= The Free Press |pages=57–58|date= 1997 |isbn= 978-0-684-83252-4 }}</ref> In 1992, astronomer Myles Standish showed that the supposed discrepancies in the planets' orbits were illusory, the product of overestimating the mass of Neptune.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Planet X – No dynamical evidence in the optical observations |author=Myles Standish |date= 1992-07-16 |journal=Astronomical Journal |volume= 105|issue= 5|pages=200–2006 |doi=10.1086/116575 |bibcode=1993AJ....105.2000S}}</ref> Today astronomers accept that Planet X, at least as originally defined, does not exist.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Neptune File|author=John Standage|publisher=Pengin|date=2000|page=168|isbn=0-8027-1363-7}}</ref> ===Hercolubus=== In 1999, [[New Age]] author V. M. Rabolu wrote in ''Hercolubus or Red Planet'' that [[Barnard's star]] is actually a planet known to the ancients as Hercolubus, which purportedly came dangerously close to Earth in the past, destroying [[Atlantis]], and will come close to Earth again.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hercolubus.tv|author=VM Rabolu|publisher=A Prats|url= http://www.hercolubus.tv |accessdate=2011-08-22}}</ref> Lieder subsequently used Rabolu's ideas to bolster her claims.<ref>{{cite web|title=ZetaTalk: Hercolubus|author=Nancy Lieder|date=2006-11-02|url= http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta335.htm |accessdate=2011-08-22}}</ref> Barnard's star has been directly measured to be 5.98 ± 0.003 [[light year]]s (56.6&nbsp;Pm) from Earth .<ref>{{cite journal |author=Benedict |date=1999-04-26 |accessdate=2011-08-22 |title= Interferometric Astrometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star Using Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor 3: Detection Limits for sub-Stellar Companions|url= http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-3881/118/2/1086/fulltext |journal= [[The Astronomical Journal]] |volume=118 |issue=2 | pages=1086–1100 |doi=10.1086/300975 |last2=McArthur |first2=Barbara |last3=Chappell |first3=D. W. |last4=Nelan |first4=E. |last5=Jefferys |first5=W. H. |last6=Van Altena |first6=W. |last7=Lee |first7=J. |last8=Cornell |first8=D. |last9=Shelus |first9=P. J. |bibcode= 1999astro.ph..5318B |arxiv= astro-ph/9905318 |display-authors=9 |last10=Hemenway |first10=P. D. |last11=Franz |first11=Otto G. |last12=Wasserman |first12=L. H. |last13=Duncombe |first13=R. L. |last14=Story |first14=D. |last15=Whipple |first15=A. L. |last16=Fredrick |first16=L. W. }}</ref> While it is approaching Earth, Barnard's Star will not make its closest approach to the Sun until around 11,700 AD, when it will approach to within some 3.8 light-years.<ref>{{cite journal |last= García-Sánchez |first=J |display-authors=etal |bibcode= 2001A&A...379..634G |title=Stellar encounters with the solar system |journal=[[Astronomy & Astrophysics]] |volume=379 |pages=642 |date=2001 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20011330|issue= 2 }}</ref> This is only slightly closer than the closest star to the Sun ([[Proxima Centauri]]) lies today. ===Nemesis=== Believers in Planet X/Nibiru have often confused it with [[Nemesis (hypothetical star)|Nemesis]],<ref name=nem/> a hypothetical star first proposed by physicist [[Richard A. Muller]]. In 1984, Muller postulated that [[mass extinctions]] were not random, but appeared to occur in the [[fossil record]] with a loose periodicity that ranged from 26 to 34 million years. He attributed this supposed pattern to a heretofore undetected companion to the Sun, either a dim [[red dwarf]] or a [[brown dwarf]], lying in an elliptical, 26-million-year orbit. This object, which he named Nemesis, would, once every 26 million years, pass through the [[Oort cloud]], the shell of over a trillion icy objects believed to be the source of [[long-period comet]]s that orbit at thousands of times Pluto's distance from the Sun. Nemesis's gravity would then disturb the comets' orbits and send them into the inner Solar System, causing the Earth to be bombarded. However, to date no direct evidence of Nemesis has been found.<ref>{{cite journal |author=J. G. Hills |title=Dynamical constraints on the mass and perihelion distance of Nemesis and the stability of its orbit |journal=Nature |volume=311 |issue= 5987 |pages=636–638 |date=1984-10-18 |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v311/n5987/abs/311636a0.html |accessdate=2008-03-25 |doi=10.1038/311636a0 |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |bibcode=1984Natur.311..636H}}</ref> Though the idea of Nemesis appears similar to the Nibiru cataclysm, they are, in fact, very different, as Nemesis, if it existed, would have an orbital period thousands of times longer, and would never come near Earth itself.<ref name=nem>{{cite web|title=Ask an Astrobiologist: What is Nemesis?|author=David Morrison|work=NASA|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2010/04/09/1662/|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> ===Sedna or Eris=== Still others confuse Nibiru with [[90377 Sedna|Sedna]] (90377 Sedna) or [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]] (136199 Eris), [[trans-Neptunian object]]s discovered by Mike Brown in 2003 and 2005 respectively.<ref name=sony/><ref>{{cite web|title=Ask an Astrobiologist: Nibiru/Sedna|publisher=Ask an Astrobiologist|url= http://astrobiology2.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/question/?id=1124 |accessdate=2011-08-22}}</ref> However, despite having been described as a "tenth planet" in an early NASA press release,<ref>{{cite web|title=10th Planet Discovered|publisher=NASA|date=2005|url=http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/29jul_planetx/|accessdate=2011-08-14}}</ref> Eris (Then known only as 2003 UB₃₁₃) is now classified as a [[dwarf planet]]. Only slightly more massive than Pluto,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dysnomia, the moon of Eris|author=Mike Brown|work=Caltech|url=http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/moon/index.html |date=2007|accessdate=2007-06-14}}</ref> Eris has a well-determined orbit that never takes it closer than 5.5 billion&nbsp;km from the Earth.<ref name=jpldata>{{cite web|date=2006-10-04|title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 136199 Eris (2003 UB313) |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=Eris |accessdate=2011-08-22}}</ref> Sedna is slightly smaller than Pluto,<ref name=spitzer>{{cite book |title=The Solar System Beyond Neptune |chapter=Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope |author=John Stansberry |display-authors=4 |author2=Will Grundy |author3=Mike Brown|author4=Dale Cruikshank |author5=John Spencer|author6=David Trilling |author7=Jean-Luc Margot |publisher=University of Arizona press |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/ssbn2008/7017.pdf |format=pdf |arxiv=astro-ph/0702538v2 |editor=M. Antonietta Barucci |editor2=Hermann Boehnhardt |editor3=Dale P. Cruikshank |date=2008|isbn=0-8165-2755-5 |pages=161–179}}</ref> and never comes closer to Earth than 11.4 billion&nbsp;km.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Surface of Sedna in the Near-infrared|author=Chadwick A. Trujillo|author2=M. E. Brown|author3=D. L. Rabinowitz|journal= Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society|volume= 39|page=510|date=2007|bibcode= 2007DPS....39.4906T}}</ref> Mike Brown believes the confusion results from both the real Eris and the imaginary Nibiru having extremely [[Elliptic orbit|elliptical orbits]].<ref name=sony/> ===Tyche=== Others have tied it to [[Tyche (hypothetical planet)|Tyche]];<ref name=tyche>{{cite web|title=Ask an Astrobiologist:Tyche|author=David Morrison|publisher=NASA|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2011/03/03/1879/|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> the name proposed by John Matese and Daniel Whitmire of the [[University of Louisiana at Lafayette]] for an object they believe to be influencing the orbits of comets in the Oort cloud.<ref>{{cite news|title=Scientists, telescope hunt massive hidden object in space|author=Jim Kavanagh|publisher=CNN.com|date=2011-02-15|url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/15/scientists-telescope-hunt-massive-hidden-object-in-space/?hpt=C2|accessdate=2011-03-25}}</ref> In February, 2011, Whitmire and his colleagues took their hypothesis to the public in an article in ''[[The Independent]]'', in which they named the object "Tyche" and claimed that evidence for its existence would be found once data from the [[Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer|WISE infrared telescope]] was collated, leading to a spike in calls to astronomers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/up-telescope-search-begins-for-giant-new-planet-2213119.html|title=Up telescope! Search begins for giant new planet|author=Paul Rodgers|date=2011|publisher=''[[The Independent]]''|accessdate=2016-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=No, there's no proof of a giant planet in the outer solar system|author=Phil Plait|author-link=Phil Plait|publisher=[[Discover Magazine]]|url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/02/14/no-theres-no-proof-of-a-giant-planet-in-the-outer-solar-system/#.VxHof_krKUm|date=2011|accessdate=2016-04-16}}</ref> The name, after the "good sister" of the Greek goddess [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]], was chosen to distinguish it from the similar Nemesis hypothesis as, unlike Nemesis, Matese and Whitmire do not believe that their object poses a threat to Earth.<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Persistent evidence of a jovian mass solar companion in the Oort cloud |author=John J. Matese |author2=Daniel Whitmire |last-author-amp=yes| journal=[[Icarus (journal)|Icarus]] |date=2011 |volume=211 |issue=2 |pages=926–938 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2010.11.009|url=http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1004/1004.4584v1.pdf |arxiv=1004.4584 |bibcode=2011Icar..211..926M}}</ref> Also, this object, if it exists, would, like Nemesis, have an orbit hundreds of times longer than that proposed for Nibiru, and never come near the inner Solar System.<ref name=tyche/> In 2014, NASA announced that the WISE survey had ruled out the existence of Tyche as its proponents had defined it.<ref name="NASA-20140307">{{cite web |last1=Clavin |first1=Whitney |last2=Harrington |first2=J.D. |title=NASA's WISE Survey Finds Thousands of New Stars, But No 'Planet X' |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-075 |date=7 March 2014 |work=[[NASA]] |accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> ===Comet Elenin=== Some associated Nibiru with [[Comet Elenin]],<ref name=ele/> a [[long-period comet]] discovered by Russian astronomer Leonid Elenin on December 10, 2010.<ref name="MPEC2010-X101">{{cite web|date=2010-12-12 |title=MPEC 2010-X101: COMET C/2010 X1 (ELENIN) |publisher=IAU Minor Planet Center |url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/mpec/K10/K10XA1.html |accessdate=2011-03-15}}</ref> On October 16, 2011, Elenin made its closest approach to the Earth at a distance of {{convert|0.2338|AU|km mi|abbr=on}},<ref name=jpl-x1>{{cite web |title=JPL Close-Approach Data: C/2010 X1 (Elenin) |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C/2010+X1;cad=1#cad |accessdate=2011-03-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title="Doomsday" Comet Elenin: A Threat No More|author=C. Genalyn|work=International Business Times|date=2011|url=http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/232138/20111017/doomsday-comet-elinen-a-threat-no-more.htm|accessdate=2011-10-17}}</ref> which is slightly closer than the planet [[Venus#Orbit and rotation|Venus]].<ref name=venus-nssdc>{{cite web |url = http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html |title=Venus Fact Sheet|publisher=NASA |last=Williams|first=David R. |date=2005-04-15|accessdate=2011-08-09}}</ref> Nevertheless, in the leadup to its closest approach, claims spread on conspiracy websites concluded that it was on a collision course, that it was as large as Jupiter or even a [[brown dwarf]], and even that the name of the discoverer, Leonid Elenin, was in fact code for ELE, or an [[Extinction event|Extinction Level Event]].<ref name=ele>{{cite web|title=Comet Elenin|publisher=NASA Ask An Astrobiologist|author=David Morrison|date=2011|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2011/02/17/1874/|accessdate=2011-04-03}}</ref> Although the sizes of comets are difficult to determine without close observation, Comet Elenin is likely to be less than 10&nbsp;km in diameter.<ref>{{cite web|title=Comet Elenin (2)|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2011/03/01/1885/|publisher=NASA Ask an Astrobiologist|date=2011|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> Elenin himself estimates that the [[comet nucleus]] is roughly 3–4&nbsp;km in diameter.<ref name=size>{{cite web |url=http://spaceobs.org/en/2011/03/07/vliyanie-planet-gigantov-na-orbitu-komety-c2010-x1-elenin/comment-page-1/#comments |title=Responses to "Influence of giant planets on the orbit of comet C/2010 X1 |first=Leonid |last=Elenin }}</ref> This would make it millions of times smaller than the supposed Nibiru. Comet hysteria is not uncommon.<ref name="Kronk">{{cite web |title=Comet Hysteria and the Millennium |publisher=Cometography.com |author=Gary W. Kronk |url=http://cometography.com/hysteria.html |accessdate=2011-04-03|authorlink=Gary W. Kronk }}</ref> Attempts have been made to correlate Elenin's alignments with the [[2011 Japan earthquake]], the [[2010 Canterbury earthquake]], and [[2010 Chile earthquake]]; however, even discounting Elenin's tiny size, earthquakes are driven by forces within the earth, and cannot be triggered by the passage of nearby objects.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elenin|publisher=Ask an Astrobiologist|url=http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/answered/2011/08/18/2009/|accessdate=2014-12-13}}</ref> In 2011, Leonid Elenin ran a simulation on his blog in which he increased the mass of the comet to that of a brown dwarf (0.05 solar masses). He demonstrated that its gravity would have caused noticeable changes in the orbit of Saturn years before its arrival in the inner Solar System.<ref>{{cite web|title=What if we replace comet Elenin by brown dwarf?|publisher=spaceobs.org|author=Leonid Elenin|date=2011|url=http://spaceobs.org/en/2011/06/03/what-if-we-replace-comet-elenin-by-brown-dwarf/|accessdate=2011-06-14}}</ref> In August, 2011, Comet Elenin began to disintegrate,<ref>{{cite web |date=2011-08-29 |title=Comet Elenin Could Be Disintegrating |publisher=Universe Today |author=Nancy Atkinson |url=http://www.universetoday.com/88494/comet-elenin-could-be-disintigrating/ |accessdate=2011-08-30}}</ref><ref name="Bob2011-08">{{cite web |date=2011-08-28 |title=Comet Elenin tired of doomsday finger pointing |author=Bob King (Astro Bob) |url=http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/08/28/comet-elenin-tired-of-too-much-pr/ |accessdate=2011-08-28}}</ref> and by the time of its closest approach in October 2011 the comet was undetected even by large ground-based telescopes.<ref>{{cite web |date=2011-10-11 |title=C/2010 X1 (Elenin) post solar conjunction recovery attempt |publisher=Remanzacco Observatory in Italy – Comets & Neo |author=Ernesto Guido |author2=Giovanni Sostero |author3=Nick Howes |last-author-amp=yes |url=http://remanzacco.blogspot.com/2011/10/c2010-x1-elenin-post-solar-conjunction.html |accessdate=2011-10-11}}</ref> ===Comet ISON=== [[File:Composite image of Comet ISON; April 2013.jpg|thumb|A [[composite image]] of [[Comet ISON]],<ref name="ARXIV-20140508" /> which generated a number of UFO claims.]] On 21 September 2012, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok, using the [[International Scientific Optical Network]] of telescopes (ISON), discovered the comet [[C/2012 S1]], popularly known as "Comet ISON".<ref name="Trigo-Rodriguez2013">{{cite conference |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/pdf/1576.pdf |title=Post-discovery Photometric Follow-up of Sungrazing Comet C/2012 S1 ISON |conference=44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 18–22 March 2013. The Woodlands, Texas |first1=J. M. |last1=Trigo-Rodríguez |first2=K. J. |display-authors=4 |last2=Meech |first3=D. |last3=Rodriguez |first4=A. |last4=Sánchez |first5=J. |last5=Lacruz |first6=T. E. |last6=Riesen |date=2013 |id=#1576}}</ref> Its orbit was expected to take it within {{convert|0.429|AU|km mi|abbr=on|lk=off}} of Earth on 26 December 2013.<ref name="jpl-s1">{{cite web |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2012S1;cad=1#cad |title=JPL Close-Approach Data: C/2012 S1 (ISON) |work=NASA.gov |accessdate=25 November 2012}}</ref> Nonetheless, believers tied it to the Nibiru cataclysm, claiming it would hit the Earth on that date, or that it would fragment and pieces of it would hit the Earth.<ref name=ison>{{cite web|title=Debunking Comet ISON Conspiracy Theories (No, ISON is Not Nibiru)|author=David Dickenson|publisher=[[Universe Today]]|date=2013|url=http://www.universetoday.com/101798/debunking-comet-ison-conspiracy-theories-no-ison-is-not-nibiru/|accessdate=2013-09-02}}</ref> Images of the "fragments" of the comet circulating on the Internet were shown to be camera artifacts.<ref name=ison/> On April 30, 2013, the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] took three pictures of the comet over the course of 12 hours, which were published as a composite in Hubble's archives.<ref>{{cite web|title=What's Going On With This Comet ISON Image?|publisher=NASA|url=http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/comet_ison/blogs/what-s-going-on-with-the-comet-c-2012-s1-ison-images|date=2013|accessdate=2013-09-08}}</ref> This led to speculation on conspiracy sites that the comet had split into 3 pieces, or even that it was a UFO.<ref>{{cite web|title= Is Comet ISON a UFO? Hubble's scientists do a reality check|author=Alan Boyle|publisher=NBC News|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/comet-ison-ufo-hubbles-scientists-do-reality-check-8C11098818|date=2013|accessdate=2013-09-08}}</ref> After ISON passed perihelion on 28 November, it rapidly began to fade, leaving many to suspect that it had been destroyed as it passed the Sun. While a dim remnant did eventually return round the Sun, it was generally accepted to be a cloud of dust, rather than a solid object.<ref>{{cite web|title=Comet ISON Wrap Up|publisher=[[The Planetary Society]]|author= Bruce Betts|url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/bruce-betts/20131205-comet-ison-wrap-up.html|date=2013|accessdate=2013-12-06}}</ref> On 2 December 2013, the CIOC (NASA Comet ISON Observing Campaign) officially announced that [[Comet ISON]] had fully disintegrated.<ref name="CIOC131202">{{cite web |url=http://www.isoncampaign.org/karl/in-memoriam |title=In Memoriam |publisher=CIOC |first=Karl |last=Battams |date=2 December 2013 |accessdate=2 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="nasa20131202">{{cite news |url=http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-investigating-the-life-of-comet-ison/ |title=NASA Investigating the Life of Comet ISON |work=NASA.gov |first=Karen C. |last=Fox |date=2 December 2013 |accessdate=2 December 2013}}</ref> The [[Hubble Space Telescope]] failed to detect fragments of ISON on 18 December 2013.<ref name="HST131221">{{cite news |url=http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/comet_ison/blogs/breaking-news-comet-ison-is-still-dead |title=BREAKING NEWS: Comet ISON Is Still Dead |work=Hubblesite.org |first= Zolt |last=Levay |date=20 December 2013 |accessdate=21 December 2013}}</ref> On 8 May 2014, a detailed examination of the comet disintegration was published, suggesting that the comet fully disintegrated hours before [[perihelion]].<ref name="ARXIV-20140508">{{Cite arXiv |last=Sekanina |first=Zdenek |last2=Kracht |first2=Rainer |title=Disintegration of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) Shortly Before Perihelion: Evidence From Independent Data Sets |arxiv=1404.5968v4 |date=8 May 2014 }}<!--|accessdate=11 May 2014 --></ref> ===Planet Nine=== {{main|Planet Nine}} In March 2014, astronomers [[Chad Trujillo]] and [[Scott Sheppard]] published a paper in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' arguing that the apparent clustering of the [[arguments of perihelion]] of distant [[trans-Neptunian objects]] suggested the existence of a large trans-Neptunian planet.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Sedna-like body with a perihelion of 80 astronomical units|author=Chadwick Trujillo|author-link=Chadwick Trujillo|author2=Scott Sheppard|author2-link=Scott Sheppard|last-author-amp=yes |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=507|pages=471–474|date=27 March 2014|doi=10.1038/nature13156On|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v507/n7493/full/nature13156.html}}</ref> On January 20, 2016, Mike Brown and [[Konstantin Batygin]] announced that they had corroborated Trujillo and Sheppard's findings, and that they believed the planet, which they dubbed "[[Planet Nine]]", would have a mass roughly ten times that of the Earth, and a [[semimajor axis]] of approximately 400–1500 AU (60–225 billion km).<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/0004-6256/151/2/22|title=Evidence for a distant giant planet in the Solar system|first1=Konstantin|last1=Batygin|first2=Michael E.|last2=Brown|date=20 January 2016|journal=[[The Astronomical Journal]]|volume=151|number=2|doi=10.3847/0004-6256/151/2/22|pages=22}}</ref> Believers in Nibiru and the Nibiru cataclysm immediately argued that this constituted evidence for their claims. However, astronomers pointed out that this planet, if it exists, would have a [[perihelion]] (closest approach to the Sun) of roughly 200 AU, or 30 billion km.<ref>{{cite web|title= Planet Nine isn’t a Death Star or the killer planet ‘Nibiru.’ It may not even exist.|author= Joel Achenbach|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/01/21/planet-nine-isnt-the-mythical-nibiru-it-may-not-even-exist/|date=2016|publisher=The Washington Post|accessdate=2016-01-22}}</ref> In March 2016, believers in the Nibiru cataclysm began to suggest that the month marked the true date for Nibiru's arrival and the destruction of Earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shock claim Planet 9 wiped out life on Earth before...and will again|url=http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/505737/planet-9-nine-comet-wipe-out-life-earth-extinction-Daniel-Whitmire-nibiru-x-tyche-nemesis|publisher=The Daily Star|date=2016|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> That same month, the ''[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]]'' published a paper by Daniel Whitmire (who had proposed the existence of [[#Tyche|Tyche]]) in which he reconsidered a modified version of the [[#Nemesis|Nemesis]] model he had first proposed in 1985<ref name=utoday/> in light of recent speculations concerning the possibility of a trans-Neptunian planet.<ref name=mnras>{{cite journal|title=Periodic mass extinctions and the Planet X model reconsidered|url=http://mnrasl.oxfordjournals.org/content/455/1/L114.abstract|author=Daniel P. Whitmire|journal=[[MNRAS Letters]]|volume=455|issue=1 |pages=L114-L117}} [http://arxiv.org/pdf/1510.03097v4.pdf Full PDF]</ref> The hypothesis argues that an object far closer to the Sun than Nemesis could have a similar effect if its orbit [[precessed]] at a rate thousands of times slower than its actual speed, which would mean it might only interact with the [[Kuiper belt]] every 27 million years, potentially sending comets into the inner Solar System and triggering [[mass extinctions]].<ref name=utoday>{{cite web|title=Is Planet X Linked To Mass Extinctions?|author=Bob King|publisher=[[Universe Today]]|url=http://www.universetoday.com/128210/planet-nine-linked-mass-extinctions/|date=2016|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> However, the paper had been initially published online in November 2015, before Brown and Batygin went public with Planet Nine,<ref name=mnras/> and concerns a different object far closer to the Sun (100&nbsp;[[astronomical unit|AU]] vs. ~600&nbsp;AU); Planet Nine, if it exists, is too far away, says Brown, to have such an effect on the Kuiper belt.<ref>{{cite web|title= Don't Blame 'Planet Nine' for Earth's Mass Extinctions|author=Mike Wall|publisher=[[space.com]]|url=http://www.space.com/31725-planet-nine-earth-mass-extinctions.html|date=2016|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> Nonetheless, an article in the British tabloid ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]'' (later republished in the ''[[New York Post]]'')<ref>{{cite web|title=Space Nottity|author= Kim LaCapria|publisher=[[snopes.com]]|url=http://www.snopes.com/planet-destroy-earth/|date=2016|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> conflated the three ideas of Nibiru, Planet Nine, and Whitmire's planet to suggest that not only had Planet Nine been found, but that it would collide with Earth at the end of April,<ref>{{cite web|title= Giant HIDDEN PLANET X to 'smash into Earth THIS MONTH'|publisher=The Sun|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/7053867/Mysterious-planet-wiped-out-life-on-Earth-once-and-could-do-it-again-THIS-MONTH.html|date=2016|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> which resulted in Batygin receiving a spike in panicked calls.<ref>{{cite web|title=In response to the astonishing number of emails and phone calls I got today about the impending doom of #PlanetNine|url=https://twitter.com/kbatygin/status/718484599190368256|author=Konstantin Batygin|author-link=Konstantin Batygin|date=April 2016|publisher=[[twitter]]|accessdate=2016-04-09}}</ref> ==Public reaction== The impact of the public fear of the Nibiru cataclysm has been especially felt by professional astronomers. In 2008, Mike Brown said that Nibiru was the most common [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] topic he was asked about.<ref name=mike/> Before his retirement after 2012, [[David Morrison (astrophysicist)|David Morrison]], director of [[SETI]], [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|CSI Fellow]] and Senior Scientist at [[NASA]]'s Astrobiology Institute at [[Ames Research Center]], said he received 20 to 25 emails a week about the impending arrival of Nibiru: some frightened, others angry and naming him as part of the conspiracy to keep the truth of the impending apocalypse from the public, and still others asking whether or not they should kill themselves, their children or their pets.<ref name=morrison/><ref name=foratv/> Half of these emails are from outside the U.S.<ref name=morrison2/> "Planetary scientists are being driven to distraction by Nibiru," notes science writer [[Govert Schilling]], "And it is not surprising; you devote so much time, energy and creativity to fascinating scientific research, and find yourself on the tracks of the most amazing and interesting things, and all the public at large is concerned about is some crackpot theory about clay tablets, god-astronauts and a planet that doesn't exist."<ref name=govert/> In a similar vein, Professor [[Brian Cox (physicist)|Brian Cox]] Tweeted in 2012 that, "If anyone else asks me about "Nibiru" the imaginary bullshit planet I will slap them around their irrational heads with [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]''."<ref>{{cite web|title=If anyone else asks me about "Nibiru" the imaginary bullshit planet I will slap them around their irrational heads with Newton's Principia|author=Brian Cox|author-link=Brian Cox (physicist)|publisher=Twitter|date=2012|accessdate=2016-04-11}}</ref> Prior to the 2012 date, Morrison stated that he hoped that the non-arrival of Nibiru could serve as a teaching moment for the public, instructing them on "rational thought and baloney detection", but doubted that would happen.<ref name=morrison>{{cite web|title=Armageddon from Planet Nibiru in 2012? Not so fast|author=David Morrison|publisher=discovery.com|date=2008|url=http://dsc.discovery.com/space/my-take/nibiru-armageddon-david-morrison.html|accessdate=2009-04-02}}</ref> Morrison noted in a lecture recorded on [[FORA.tv]] that there was a huge disconnect between the large number of people on the Internet who believed in Nibiru's arrival and the majority of scientists who have never heard of it. To date he is the only major NASA scientist to speak out regularly against the Nibiru phenomenon.<ref name=foratv>{{cite web|title=David Morrison: Surviving 2012 and Other Cosmic Disasters |publisher=FORA.tv|url=http://fora.tv/2010/04/24/David_Morrison_Surviving_2012_and_Other_Cosmic_Disasters|accessdate=2010-07-17}}</ref> ==Cultural influence== A [[viral marketing]] campaign for [[Sony Pictures]]' 2009 film ''[[2012 (film)|2012]]'', directed by [[Roland Emmerich]], which depicts the end of the world in the year 2012, featured a supposed warning from the "Institute for Human Continuity" that listed the arrival of Planet X as one of its doomsday scenarios.<ref>{{cite web|title=IHC: Education/Awareness|date=2009|publisher=Sony Pictures|url=http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org/?hs308=email#/initiatives/earth/education/planetX|accessdate=2009-06-08}}</ref> Mike Brown attributed a spike in concerned emails and phone calls he received from the public to this site.<ref name=sony>{{cite web|title=Sony Pictures and the End of the World|author=Mike Brown|publisher=Mike Brown's Planets|date=2009|url= http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2009/06/sony-pictures-and-end-of-world.html|accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> Danish filmmaker [[Lars von Trier]] drew inspiration from Nibiru for his 2011 apocalyptic film ''[[Melancholia (2011 film)|Melancholia]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Karen A. Ritzenhoff|author2=Angela Krewani|title=The Apocalypse in Film: Dystopias, Disasters, and Other Visions about the End of the World|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2015|isbn=9781442260290|page=67|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zLxnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=%22melancholia%22+%22von+trier%22+%22nibiru%22+OR+%22planet+X%22&source=bl&ots=I4OdazY4bb&sig=qAlJqzJfGWjwJHgTnqHVDWw_vCk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinzpzS4cTLAhUHPxoKHVv0Azk4ChDoAQgbMAA#v=onepage&q=%22melancholia%22%20%22von%20trier%22%20%22nibiru%22%20OR%20%22planet%20X%22&f=false}}</ref> The 2010 animated television series ''[[Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated]]'' features Nibiru as a major plot point in its second season, tying the apocalyptic event with its mythological namesake. ==See also== * [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]] ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=25em}} ==External links== * [http://www.zetatalk.com/ ZetaTalk] (contains various pieces about this topic) * [http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/index.html Bad Astronomy: The Planet X Saga] (exposé of ZetaTalk's astronomical errors) * [http://www.space.com/15551-nibiru.html Space.com: Nibiru: The Nonexistent Planet] {{Pseudoscience}} {{Conspiracy theories}} {{UFOs}} {{Good article}} [[Category:Apocalypticism]] [[Category:Non-scientific hypothetical planets]] [[Category:Pseudoscience]] [[Category:UFO culture]]'