Fact or Fiction: 2 Planets Discovered in Perpendicular Orbits?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the validity of a claim regarding the discovery of two planets with perpendicular orbits relative to the known nine planets. The initial poster expresses skepticism about the stability of such orbits, citing the gravitational influence of mass in the ecliptic plane that would likely disrupt them over time. They suggest that the person who reported this may have misunderstood or misrepresented the information, possibly confusing these objects with larger bodies in the Oort Cloud, rather than actual planets, due to the lack of a clear definition of what constitutes a planet.
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I've just talked with someone who informed me of a T.V. special, that dealt with the discovery of two planets, that move in perpendicular orbits - relative to the other nine planets. Is this true, or was I right in assuming that it was ridiculous?
 
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I don't believe that can be a long term stable orbit. The amount of mass in or near plane of the ecliptic would surely perturb such orbits after a while.
 
Originally posted by selfAdjoint
I don't believe that can be a long term stable orbit. The amount of mass in or near plane of the ecliptic would surely perturb such orbits after a while.

That's what I tried to tell him, but he insisted that he had seen this on some "science special".
 
The special to which he reffered might have been fudging around a little with the definition of "planet", since we don't really have one, yet. Maybe they were just talking about a couple of larger-than-usual objects in the Oort Cloud (which is, after all, spherical).
 

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