New Planet Leaves Mnemonic in Ruins

A new planet has been discovered. It's about time, isn't it? How long has it been since the last one? The planet has no official name yet, but its temporary name is "2003 UB313." I understand they don't want to make another "Uranus" gaffe, but come on. 2003 UB313? Let's see, how will that mnemonic go now... My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas 2003. Perfect.

From the New York Times article:

What is most surprising is that the orbit of the planet is sharply skewed to most of the rest of the solar system. The orbits of most of the planets lie close to the same plane as Earth's, known as the ecliptic plane. The orbit of 2003 UB313 is tilted by 44 degrees.

"That blows my mind," said Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., who was not involved in the discovery. "Getting something up that high is very hard."

Perhaps if Mr. Levison spent more time out with human females, and less time at the Institute with telescopes and computers, it wouldn't be such a difficult task for him.

Really, though, I'm very excited about this new discovery. There is a certain enhanced comfort in knowing that there is a new planet 4.6 billion miles away from me, that has been there my whole life. And by "certain" I mean "nonexistent."