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Show The New Planet For years astronomers have searched the heavens for a ninth planet, which mathematical calculations calcu-lations led them to believe existed beyond Neptune. It remained for a young American observatory assistant, as-sistant, Clyde Tombaugh, 23 years old, to find it. It was not discov- ered directly through a telescope, but as a faint spot cf light on a photographic plate, and later verified veri-fied as the long-sought body. It may be unknown to many that this is the third planet of our solar sol-ar system to be discovered by man during the last 150 years. While the nearer planets were known to the ancients, Uranus was not discovered dis-covered until 1781, nor Neptune until 1846. The newly found planet plan-et has not been named, nor has its size been determined. Its distance from the sun is thought to be between three and four billion miles, while the earth is less than 93 million miles from our central luminary. So, while it is interesting to know we have an additional member of our solar system, its presence will have little effect upon practical affairs. A few days after the discovery of the ninth planet was announced j an Italian amateur astronomer claimed that he had found four now planets making 12 in all, but so far his claim has not been verified veri-fied by any recognized authorities. |