Renegade Game Studios Renegade Game Studio | The Search for Planet X | Board Game | Ages 13+ | 1-4 Players | 60 Minutes Playing Time

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The oligarch theory of planet formation states that there were hundreds of planet-sized objects, known as oligarchs, in the early stages of the Solar System's evolution. In 2005, astronomer Eugene Chiang speculated that although some of these oligarchs became the planets we know today, most would have been flung outward by gravitational interactions. Some may have escaped the Solar System altogether to become free-floating planets, whereas others would be orbiting in a halo around the Solar System, with orbital periods of millions of years. This halo would lie at between 1,000 and 10,000AU (150 and 1,500billionkm; 93 and 930billionmi) from the Sun, or between a third and a thirtieth the distance to the Oort cloud. [96] Additionally, speculation of a possible trans-Neptunian planet has revolved around the so-called " Kuiper cliff". The Kuiper belt terminates suddenly at a distance of 48AU (7.2billionkm; 4.5billionmi) from the Sun. Brunini and Melita have speculated that this sudden drop-off may be attributed to the presence of an object with a mass between those of Mars and Earth located beyond 48AU. [81] The need for the app isn’t as bad as you might imagine, and one of the biggest added benefits from its inclusion is the fact that you can play solo. Sure, you only play against one opponent, but the game you play is exactly the same game as you’ll play against human opponents, so it’s the perfect way to practice or to get a learning game in ahead of teaching it at your local game night. There’s also some pleasing player interaction in the game as every action you take is publicly announced, with only the app’s answers kept secret. Combined with the opportunity for players to make claims on the non-Planet X objects they think they’ve found – sharing knowledge with other players for VP – this can lead to interesting second-level deductions, guesswork, and bluffing. However, it’s a subtle, optional form of interaction, meaning the game doesn’t feel all that different whether you play with three others or the challenging-but-fair AI opponent inbuilt in the app. NASA's Solar System Exploration: Multimedia: Gallery: Pluto's Symbol". NASA. Archived from the original on 2006-10-01 . Retrieved 2007-03-25.

To the observatory's disappointment and surprise, Pluto showed no visible disc; it appeared as a point, no different from a star, and, at only 15th magnitude, was six times dimmer than Lowell had predicted, which meant it was either very small, or very dark. [18] Because of Lowell's predictions, astronomers thought that Pluto would be massive enough to perturb planets. This led them to assume that its albedo could be no less than 0.07 (meaning that, at minimum, it would reflect 7% of the light that hit it), which would have made Pluto about as dark as asphalt, and similar in reflectivity to the least reflective planet, which is Mercury. [1] This would have given Pluto an estimated mass of no more than 70% that of Earth. [1] Observations also revealed that Pluto's orbit was very elliptical, far more than that of any other planet. [31] Whitney Clavin (2011-02-18). "Can WISE Find the Hypothetical 'Tyche'?". NASA/JPL . Retrieved 2011-02-19. Astronomers soon discovered a moon orbiting Neptune, but it took more than a century to discover a second one. Our knowledge of distant Neptune greatly increased from the scientific observations made during Voyager 2’s flyby in 1989, including the discovery of five additional moons and confirmation of dark rings orbiting the planet." Neptune (Source: NASA on the commons) In 1850 James Ferguson, Assistant Astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory, noted that he had "lost" a star he had observed, GR1719k, which Lt. Matthew Maury, the superintendent of the Observatory, claimed was evidence that it must be a new planet. Subsequent searches failed to recover the "planet" in a different position, and in 1878, CHF Peters, director of the Hamilton College Observatory in New York, showed that the star had not in fact vanished, and that the previous results had been due to human error. [11]Note: It’s VERY important you are all using the same game code, as this will determine the randomised location of each object in the sky. A different code means different locations. I’d also hate to be the person who sits down to play but isn’t used to any kind of logic problem. Maybe they’ve never done a logic grid, a sudoku puzzle, or a nonogram. The kind of thinking that helps you solve puzzles like these is normally learned, rather than innate, which makes The Search for Planet X a game where you need to be careful who your audience is. Bear that in mind when you’re deciding whether to buy the game or not. Final thoughts When Sedna was discovered, its extreme orbit raised questions about its origin. Its perihelion is so distant (approximately 76AU (11.4billionkm; 7.1billionmi)) that no currently observed mechanism can explain Sedna's eccentric distant orbit. It is too far from the planets to have been affected by the gravity of Neptune or the other giant planets and too bound to the Sun to be affected by outside forces such as the galactic tides. Hypotheses to explain its orbit include that it was affected by a passing star, that it was captured from another planetary system, or that it was tugged into its current position by a trans-Neptunian planet. [64] The most obvious solution to determining Sedna's peculiar orbit would be to locate a number of objects in a similar region, whose various orbital configurations would provide an indication as to their history. If Sedna had been pulled into its orbit by a trans-Neptunian planet, any other objects found in its region would have a similar perihelion to Sedna (around 80AU (12billionkm; 7.4billionmi)). [65] Excitement of Kuiper belt orbits [ edit ]

Sedna is about three-quarters the size of Pluto. If there are sixty objects three-quarters the size of Pluto [out there] then there are probably forty objects the size of Pluto ... If there are forty objects the size of Pluto, then there are probably ten that are twice the size of Pluto. There are probably three or four that are three times the size of Pluto, and the biggest of these objects ... is probably the size of Mars or the size of the Earth. [78] [79] [80]Gerald D. Quinlan (May 6, 1993). "Planet X: A Myth Exposed". Nature. 363 (6424): 18–19. Bibcode: 1993Natur.363...18Q. doi: 10.1038/363018b0. S2CID 29058579. Clyde W. Tombaugh (1946). "The Search for the Ninth Planet, Pluto". Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets. 5 (209): 73–80. Bibcode: 1946ASPL....5...73T. Comets (2) – Comets only appear in certain sectors (noted on your sheet). When surveying for them, you must start and end in one of these designated sectors. Luhman's study found 762 new objects among the data, but no signs of a Saturn-sized object out to 10,000 times the Earth-sun distance (an astronomical unit, or AU; 1 AU is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers). Nor did Luhman spot any Jupiter-size or larger objects out to 26,000 AUs. Mark Littman (1990). Planets Beyond: Discovering the Outer Solar System. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0471510536.