Planet X/12th Planet Distance at Present

Article: <[email protected]> 
Subject: Planet X/12th Planet Distance at Present
Date: 1 Apr 1998 16:25:27 GMT

In article <[email protected]> Chris Franks writes:
> Nancy, I used YOUR Zeta figures in which you said that they 
> said it was 18.7 AU away right now, so that is twice as close as 
> Pluto.   Do you want to retract that 18.7 AU figure?

I think you mis-read, Chris.  Check again at
http://www.zetatalk.com/science/s29.htm
which I will quote a bit from again.
(Begin ZetaTalk[TM])
The 12th Planet's path is elliptical, making a long flat circle around
its two gravitational masters, your Sun and a body you cannot see.  The
Sun's alter ego in this matter is not an object on your sky maps, but
for the purposes of calculating the 12th Planet's orbit, you can assume
it be have the same mass as the Sun, and to be at a distance that
allows the curve of the ellipse to smooth to an essentially straight
line between the two orbital foci.  The 12th Planet's travels are not
unlike a train on parallel tracks, where the train is on one side of
the tracks going in one direction, and on the other side coming back. 
It will surprise you to know that the second foci is not that far away.
 Since it rivals the Sun in mass, the assumption would be that your
astronomers would know about it.  However, being dark, they stare past
it and think it space.  To use multiples of the distance from your Sun
to its farthest known orbiting planet, which you call Pluto, this foci
is from the Sun 18.724 times as far away.  
(End ZetaTalk[TM])