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Evidence of Planet 9 --"May Already Exist"

“Actually, it's quite possible that the planet has already been in some way imaged,” says Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institute. “That happened with Uranus, Neptune and Pluto — they were observed but not understood before they were actually detected. Who knows, proof of Planet X {or Planet 9} may already exist in some observatory archive.”

Scott Shepard's team has been se arching for proof of Planet 9 using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tollolo Inter-American Observatory in the southern Atacama region of Chile (below) . They have also collected data on distant solar system objects with the Japanese Hyper Surpime Camera on the 8-meter Subaru telescope in Hawaii. (National Optical Astronomical Observatory)

Shepard is considering an alternative theory that involves a Planet 9 exoplanet that had been been kicked out of another nearby solar system that formed in the general vicinity of ours. Such things are known to happen.

“If this turned out to be the case, then we'd know that there were other suns being formed nearby our sun,” Shepard said. “It would have to be a very dense solar environment, and that would also tell us a lot about the formation of our solar system.”

Object V774104 shown at the top of the page was discovered in late October, 2015, and is one of the most distant objects ever detected in the solar system. It appears to be about half the size of Pluto, but with an orbit two to three times wider than Pluto's. (Scott Sheppard, Chad Trujillo and Dave Tholen: Subaru Telescope)

Sheppard's team is conducting the deepest survey so far for objects beyond Neptune and the Kuiper Belt, a circumstellar disk that lies some 30 to 50 times as far as the Earth is from the sun. It is filled with dwarf planets asteroids, comets, and balls of frozen compounds — remnants of the earliest days of the evolution of the solar system. The Kuiper Belt is the region that includes Pluto, the now dwarf planet demoted with heated debate several years ago.

The team has observed nearly 10 percent of the sky using some of the largest and most advanced telescopes and cameras in the world. As they find and confirm these distant and faint objects, they analyze whether their discoveries fit into the larger theories about how interactions with a massive distant planet could have shaped the outer Solar System.

“Right now we are dealing with very low-number statistics, so we don't really understand what is happening in the outer Solar System,” Sheppard said. “Greater numbers of extreme trans-Neptunian objects must be found to fully determine the structure of our outer Solar System.”

He said that although astronomers believe there are thousands of these small objects, only about 15 have been positively identified. One discovered by Sheppard and Trujillo in 2014 — designated 2012 VP113 but nicknamed “Biden” — has the most distant known orbit in our solar system.

At the same time, Sheppard and Trujillo noticed that the handful of known extreme trans-Neptunian objects all clustered together and moved at similar orbital angles. These unusual dynamics lead the astronomers to propose that a substantial planet might be shepherding the smaller objects through its gravitational pull.

The search for Planet 9 is not the first to use the orbits of other bodies as a signpost to another planet. Indeed, Sheppard said that “we are now in a similar situation as in the mid-19th century when Alexis Bouvard noticed Uranus' orbital motion was peculiar, which eventually led to the discovery of Neptune.”

The other team most deeply involved with the Planet 9 hunt is led by Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin of the California Institute of Technology. They are the ones who made a big splash earlier this year with their predictions of a Planet 9, again based on the orbits of smaller objects.

In an email, we said that the newly detected object “fit perfectly into our Planet 9 hypothesis, so we remain pretty confident that the planet we predicted is indeed the right planet.”

Other groups searching the trans-Neptunian region for planets and information about the early solar system include the Canadian Outer Solar System Origins Survey and the international Dark Energy Survey.

Sheppard said that while the teams searching for Planet 9 are definitely in competition — a discovery would, after all, re-write the textbooks — they are also cooperating in terms of reporting back to each other if a region of the sky they study comes up with nothing to report. That way, he said, the teams won't duplicate efforts where there is no promise of reward.

While Sheppard's and Brown's teams have the advantage of access to more sophisticated instruments to work with, it is certainly possible that one of the others will make breakthroughs, and possibly THE breakthrough.

The Daily Galaxy via NASA and Marc Kaufmann

Young Solar System Observed Around a Nearby Star

"There Could be At Least Two Unknown Planets Hidden Well Beyond Pluto"

Enormous Volcanoes Detected on Pluto that Spew Ice, Not Lava --"Nothing Like This Has Been Seen in the Deep Outer Solar System" - The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel

NASA's First Encounter With the 'Last Planet' --"A New Class of Worlds"

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Mystery Alien Signal from Hercules Constellation --"Was from a Russian Military Satellite" --Russian News Agency TASS

Mysterious alien signals from a star system 94 light years from Earth picked up by Russian scientists last year did not come from an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, but from an old Soviet military satellite, says Russian news agency TASS, much to the disappointment of astronomers and alien enthusiasts across the world. But was it?

The originally reported source of the signal HD 164595 is a solar system which is a few billion years older than our own, but is centered on a star of a similar brightness and size to our Sun. The signal was picked up by the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, Russia shown below.

However, significant number of people around our globe are not convinced by TASS' version, believing it is one of the many cover ups aimed at deceiving us regarding the existence of advanced alien life from beyond our Solar System. They question Russia's motives for the denial of the signals validity --you'll have to draw your own conclusions.

The Russian scientists who originally intercepted the enigmatic signals, said they believed that they came from a cluster of stars ninety-four light years away in the Hercules constellation. The signals' frequency and power suggested there was a good chance they were messages from smart extraterrestrials. Excitement in the scientific community suddenly spiked.

Scientists say that HD 164595 has a Neptune-sized planet that is about seventeen times the mass of Earth. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, says its orbit is too tight it is too close to its sun for life as we know it to exist.

“We, indeed, discovered an unusual signal," said Alexander Ipatov, who works at the Russian Academy of Sciences in an interview with TASS. "However, an additional check showed that it was emanating from a Soviet military satellite, which had not been entered into any of the catalogs of celestial bodies. It can be said with confidence that no sought-for signal has been detected yet.”

On August 29th, we reported that an international team of astronomers detected signals coming from almost 100 light years away, that appeared to be a strong candidate for extraterrestrial contact, according to a document circulated by Alexander Panov, a theorectical physicist at Lomonosov Moscow State University --"a strong signal in the direction of HD164595, a planet system in the constellation Hercules was detected on May 15, using the RATAN-600 radio telescope (above) in the Russian Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia."

Subsequently, Eric Korpela, an astronomer with Berkeley SETI, downplayed the hype over this latest signal in a note reported by VOX on the Berkeley SETI website. "All in all, it's relatively uninteresting from a SETI standpoint." Korpela continued:

"I looked over the presentation. I was unimpressed. In one out of 39 scans that passed over star showed a signal at about 4.5 times the mean noise power with a profile somewhat like the beam profile. Of course SETI@home has seen millions of potential signals with similar characteristics, but it takes more than that to make a good candidate. Multiple detections are a minimum criterio

"Because the receivers used were making broad band measurements, there's really nothing about this "signal" that would distinguish it from a natural radio transient (stellar flare, active galactic nucleus, microlensing of a background source, etc.) There's also nothing that could distinguish it from a satellite passing through the telescope field of view. All in all, it's relatively uninteresting from a SETI standpoint."

"If the transient claimed originates from beyond the Earth, then, given what we currently know of the parameters of the RATAN search, such events ought to be common. The fact that they are not frequently seen in continuum imaging surveys suggests that the RATAN transient is likely due to instrumental interference or to some other artifact of human technology. While absence of evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence is by no means evidence of absence, our GBT observations did not detect ongoing emission from the direction of HD 164595 between9.1 and 11.6 GHz to a sensitivity of ∼ 10 mJy (10σ).

"Single-epoch transients are by their nature hard to confirm ordeny, illustrating the need for confirming followup, either at a later time, or as part of the observing strategy (whether triggered follow-up of interesting sources, or some form of onoff observing). We intend to re-observe HD 164595 as part of the Breakthrough Listen target list, along with ongoing observations of targets selected using a range of criteria."

The Berkeley SETI team concluded that they "welcome opportunities for partnership in order to quickly validate and analyze candidate signals, to continue to develop tools and techniques, and to share our excitement with those who, like us, seek to answer the question, “Are we alone?”.

Eleven Elliptical Galaxies Found Flying Free in Space Beyond Their Home Clusters

"Our Early Solar System Harbored SuperEarths" (Weekend Feature)

Jupiter's Eerie Voice --NASA's First Juno Mission Flyby: "Unlike Anything in Our Solar System" (LISTEN)

Planet Nine --"Could Spell Doom for Our Solar System"

The 'Monster' of Our Solar System --"In the Milky Way Alone, a Billion Jupiter-Like Worlds Could Be Orbiting Stars"

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Dear IUCN Congress: Lead On Gender Equality!
The 2016 IUCN International World Conservation Congress kicked off a few days ago here in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference theme is 'Planet at the Crossroads', and a series of journeys, from 'Business' to 'Biosecurity' have been highlighted as key issue areas to frame dialogues and conversations during the Congress.

As an estimated 8,000 advocates, scientists and conservationists convene to advance the protection of our world's natural resources, we also see that people and cultures are inextricably linked to these efforts, as stewards of their lands.

Our planet is at a crossroads, and people are also at a crossroads. We must be willing to take urgent and bold action to challenge unsustainable systems in our societies, and recognize how power and privilege underpin environmental degradation and resource extraction.

People are really at the heart, or should be at the heart, of our sharing and learning here at the IUCN Congress. And further, an understanding that people's interactions with nature, in communities and households, is very much framed by intersections such as race, class, culture and, in particular, gender.

Why Gender & Conservation?

Gender is a social construct. While not immutable nor universal, gender shapes expectations, attributes, roles, capacities and rights of women and men around the world- and in turn, experiences and interactions with the natural environment. Women, compared to men, often have limited access to resources, more restricted rights, limited mobility, and a muted voice in shaping decisions and influencing policy. At the same time, gender roles generally ascribed to women such as informal, reproductive work often relate to caregiving for households and communities, caretaking of seeds and soils, maintaining traditional agricultural knowledge, and responsibility for natural resource management such as firewood and water, and thus these roles create opportunity for engagement as women bring diverse and critical solutions to conservation.

IUCN as a Gender Champion

As one of the leading environmental organizations in the world, IUCN has been at the forefront of recognizing women's rights and gender equality as a critical element of conservation and sustainable development. Since its founding in 1948, over 40 Congress resolutions have recognized women's role in resource management and at least 16 have emphasized the need for gender analysis and planning in conservation work.

Following a resolution in 1996 to develop a gender policy, the approved policy was passed in 1998 and included the creation of a Global Senior Gender Adviser Office (GGO), which almost 20 years later, now includes a global staff of over 15 people, conducting technical work with IUCN members around the world. This work has included support to mainstreaming gender into international environmental policy frameworks, and support to members at national level, creating action plans on gender in climate change and biodiversity planning. In addition to the Global Gender Office, IUCN has also established regional Gender Focal Points to monitor implementation of the IUCN Gender Policy at all levels.

This institutional recognition of gender issues is quite noteworthy for an intergovernmental organization such as IUCN, as it has taken many decades for other environmental frameworks and mechanisms to begin developing policies to integrate social issues into their work. This is beginning to shift across the board, and in particular, in 2015, where both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement, placed gender equality as central to all actions.

As highlighted in the Opening Session of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, this is the largest global meeting of decision-makers and practitioners since the major global development agreements of 2015--and an important opportunity to focus on implementation and action. It is a moment for IUCN to highlight its strong history and work on gender equality, which the Congress seemingly recognized: "The IUCN Congress 2016 aims to be the most gender-responsive Congress in IUCN's history. It will comply with the Union's Gender Policy as well as the various mandates adopted by IUCN's General Assemblies. The IUCN Congress Gender Mainstreaming Strategy was created to ensure that IUCN's policies and actions reflect the importance of gender equality in all of the Union's work."

Measuring Success

In reflecting on the first few days of the 2016 IUCN Congress, there are some glaring challenges to achieving the goal of being the most 'gender-responsive' Congress in IUCN's history.

Motions. As stated above, this Congress marks a critical moment for building towards action and implementation from the big agendas decided in 2015. The Congress intends to leave with a Conservation Agenda - to help achieve a series of goals. It would seem unquestionable given progress on gender, and IUCN's history on this work, that gender equality would be a pillar of this agenda. However, the 2016 Congress will actually mark the first Congress in decades where out of 99 resolutions, there is not a single reference to gender.

Visibility. It's also surprising that out of the 17 journeys/ topics identified as critical issues for this 'planet at a crossroads', it seems that the concerns of people and communities, and in particular, gender issues are very hidden within the agenda. IUCN certainly has the expertise, partnerships and knowledge for gender equality, women's rights and the role of local communities / indigenous peoples to be critical journey not only as part of the themes of the conference but woven throughout all of the conference.

Influence. While much progress still needs to be made in integrating gender into the efforts of environmental conservation groups such as the members of IUCN, many do have gender advisors or advocates working within these organizations. In discussions with fellow gender advocates here at the Congress on the lack of gender issues in the motions as well as in events, there seems to be some shared experiences of either not being fully engaged in preparations for sessions and motions in relation to the World Congress but also challenges in support or political will among the organizations to see gender, women rights and the rights of indigenous peoples as priority issues. This suggests a need for continued opportunities for capacity building and knowledge sharing on how gender is central to all conservation work, and not simply an 'add-on'.

Voice. Most significant is an observation that many panels / sessions of the IUCN Congress have not included or prioritized people most impacted by environmental degradation, or leading conservation efforts, in particular, indigenous women. Beyond this, there is a lack of space for these important voices to be heard in the first place. As an example, an incredible group of indigenous women from Kenya, Thailand, Guatemala, Hawaii, Fiji and Russia, part of the Indigenous Women's Biodiversity Network (IWBN) held an event offsite on Friday, September 2nd, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The organizers explained that they did not know in time about funding availability to be able to apply for an official side event slot. This sharing of experiences of resources management and conservation via traditional knowledge was worthy of a High-Level Panel at the IUCN Congress, but at minimum, more flexibility and space to ensure the participation and voice of indigenous women, peoples and frontline communities should be guaranteed in this type of space.

This is not to diminish the good work that is going on to highlight gender in the IUCN Congress, particularly via the efforts of the Senior Global Gender Office, as well as the many gender experts, advocates and indigenous women activists who are here organizing and sharing their experiences. However, with such a rich history in leadership on gender issues, and with a specific policy for gender mainstreaming, one would expect a much stronger coordination and emphasis on the topic. In addition, a much more progressive understanding that for the Congress to be truly gender responsive and also responsive to human rights, we must work to ensure that gender balance is only a first step. In addition to ensuring men and women in equal number we must also make space and prioritize frontline communities who are leading resilience efforts- to voice their challenges and their solutions for conservation and sustainable development.

Achieving Success

As the IUCN Congress moves from the Forum to the Members Assembly on Tuesday, there are a number of things which can be done over the coming days and in the future to ensure the Congress is fulfilling IUCN's role as a champion of gender issues.

Raise your voice. IUCN members should use the opportunity of the Assembly to raise the importance of gender equality and women's rights in conservation and sustainable development, in line with the big agreements of 2015 and IUCN mandates and policies. Members should highlight that this is the first Congress where gender has been absent from motions, and that it must not be absent in the future conservation agenda.

Reflect. Members should also reflect on the motions/events submitted and planning for the Congress and whether there were opportunities to engage with gender advisors and staff which were not utilized or explored.

Engage. Congress participants should join in the conversation on gender issues. Advocates at the Congress have been using the hashtag #IUCNGender to highlight some critical conversations. In addition, anyone interested in these issues is welcome to join an open and informal 'women and gender caucus' which meets at 8am each morning on level 3.

Lead. Finally, IUCN must ensure gender equality, and their leadership on this issue, remains as a guiding principle for the organization. Articulated in enhanced collaboration with women's groups and gender advocates around the world, greater coherence to its internal mainstreaming policies, and continued support to members on technical training and capacity building around gender issues.

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Judge Threads Needle on Dakota Access Pipeline Temporary Restraining Order
A federal judge has granted in part and denied in part the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request to temporarily stop work on a portion of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline. At issue is the Sioux Nation's attempt to protect ancient prayer and burial grounds.

U.S. District Judge Boasberg said that work will temporarily stop between State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but that work will continue west of the highway. At issue is whether The United States Army Corps of Engineers has any jurisdiction on the private land.

This means that the site of mass grave and artifact desecration by contractors at the site of a violent confrontation between protestors and Energy Transfer Inc.'s security forces over the holiday weekend is not resolved. Women and children were maced, pepper sprayed, and attacked by security dogs, according to Tribal Leaders. Tribal Chairman David Archambault II said in a press release, "Sacred places containing ancient burial sites, places of prayer and other significant cultural artifacts of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe were destroyed Saturday by Energy Transfer Partners.

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier is calling on all members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to avoid traveling to or doing business in the Mandan-Bismarck area until this crisis is resolved. "I fear for my people's safety, the Chairman said in a press release.

Attorneys for Energy Transfer Partners denied that workers destroyed any cultural sites, but evidence filed by the Plaintiffs and the Sioux Nation indicate otherwise.

Testimony in support of the Temporary Restraining Order against DALP interests filed by Tim Mentz reads, in part:

The elders say that reburying can help deal with the loss and hurt of disturbing these graves. These are people whose graves are in some cases known about and who have family connections in Cannon Ball. We want an opportunity to rebury our relatives. We normally are given this opportunity if gravesites are disturbed.

I do not believe that the timing of this construction was an accident or coincidence. Based on my observations, the nearest area of construction in the right of way west of Highway 1806 is around 20 miles away. It appears that DAPL drove the bulldozers approximately 20 miles of uncleared right of way to access the precise area that we surveyed and described in my declaration. The work started very early in the morning and they were accompanied by private security with dogs and with a helicopter overhead, indicating that the work was planned with care and that controversy was expected.

Immediately recognizing the need to stop this process, on August 4, 2016 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe along with attorneys from Earth Justice filed a motion with supporting documents for a preliminary injunction against the DAPL. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued the initial permitting for the pipeline. Federal Judge James E. Boasberg rejected the motion to ignore the injunction request and ordered a status conference on September 14, leaving room for discussion after his ruling September 9.

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Obama Cements His Climate Legacy
After promising to slow the rise of the oceans in 2008, president Barack Obama has finally cemented his climate legacy.

Over the weekend, the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, the U.S. and China formally ratified the Paris climate change pact. The move is being hailed as a crucial step in the fight against global warming. Speaking together with China's Xi Jinping, Obama said:

"Just as I believe the Paris agreement will ultimately prove to be a turning point for our planet, I believe that history will judge today's efforts as pivotal. We have a saying in America that you need to put your money where your mouth is. And when it comes to combating climate change that is what we are doing ... we are leading by example."

Painstakingly crafted and agreed to by more than 190 nations last December, the treaty is the by product of over 20 years of fraught negotiations. In the past, Beijing and Washington locked horns over who should take responsibility for the cuts: the U.S., the largest emitter historically, or China, the biggest polluter at present?

But, in 2014 as the science behind climate change grew ever more frightening, the two super powers joined forces to spreadhead a new global effort.

The move came six months after the UN released its most terrifying climate report yet: world temperatures are set to race past the four degrees Celsius mark before the turn of this century. And, whilst this may not sound like much, its enough to usher in a mass extinction event as it brings about changes not seen the last Ice Age.

"When the two largest emitters lock arms to solve climate change, that is when you know we are on the right track," said David Waskow from the World Resources Institute: "Never before have these two countries worked so closely together to address a global challenge. There's no question that this historic partnership on climate change will be one of the defining legacies of Obama's presidency."

The move came as monthly temperatures continue to smash records: July was the hottest July on record.

With less than 11 weeks before Americans head to the polls, the Obama administration is desperate to solidify the deal in the event of a Donald Trump presidency.

In his signature louche manner, the former Apprentice star has dismissed climate change as a
hoax and threatened to pull the U.S. out the pact if he wins the White House this November.

But, it was purposely structured in such that it would take years to unwind once it goes into effect. However, this can only happen one month after 55 nations representing some 55% of emissions rubber stamp it. Up until last weekend, only 24 countries covering a meager 1.08% of emissions had done so. The U.S. and China only account for 38% of emissions.

Over 30 other nations have indicated that they will sign up this year, and in a bid to fast track the process, the U.N. is hosting a special summit in New York this month which may lead to a ratification surge. According to some campaigners, the treaty may even come into effect before the UN climate summit in Marakkesh this November.

Once the accord comes into force, all nations will have to slash their emissions according to the targets laid out last December. And, although the sum total of those pledges is not enough to stave off dangerous climate change, the accord does promise to ratchet up ambition every 5 years.

Six years ago, world leaders promised to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. But, the latest estimates indicate that we are in danger of surpassing that limit within the next 15 years.

According to a NASA funded study, civilizations in the past have collapsed because of:

"The stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity and the economic stratification of society into Elites and Masses. In unequal societies, Elites grow and consume too much, resulting in a famine among Commoners that eventually causes the collapse of society."

Interestingly, at the end of last weekend's G20 summit, the head of the International Monetary Fund concluded that "growth has been too low for too long for too few." This in part has given rise to populist politics on both sides of the Atlantic: namely Brexit and Trump.

Since the financial crisis 8 years ago, prolonged stagnant growth has only caused the inequality gap to widen whilst the strain on the planet has deepened. So, we can either continue along this business as usual path and veer towards collapse, or we can squarely confront both crises by firing up the green energy sector.

This will create both jobs and growth whilst simultaneously saving our climate. With only 15 years left before we experience dangerous climate change, all nations must urgently step up to the plate. In the words of Pope Francis: "If we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us."

As actor Leonardo di Caprio reminded world leaders at the UN two years ago: "You can make history or be vilified by it." To paraphrase the great Martin Luther King: "Although the arc of the universe is long, may it bend towards justice."

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