W. H. Pickering's Planetary Predictions and the Discovery of Pluto
@article{Hoyt1976WHP,
title={W. H. Pickering's Planetary Predictions and the Discovery of Pluto},
author={W. G. Hoyt},
journal={Isis},
year={1976},
volume={67},
pages={551 - 564}
}C ERTAINLY THE MOST PROLIFIC POSTULATOR of undiscovered planets in the annals of astronomy was Harvard's William Henry Pickering (1858-1938). While other serious planet hunters of his time were content with predictions of one or two possible trans-Neptunian bodies, Pickering populated the solar system beyond the asteroids with at least seven hypothetical planets, their distances ranging from 5.79 to 6,250 times that of the earth from the sun, and their masses from 0.045 to 20,000 earth masses… CONTINUE READING
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