Tom Van Flandern posted the following
message to the internet regarding
the 3600 year orbit of Planet
X.
From: metares@well.sf.ca.us (Tom
Van Flandern)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: 10th planet?
Date: 1 May 1994 16:40:02 GMT
[....]
As for Planet X, the topic of
this thread, its orbit could not have a
period of 3600 years and approach
the Sun closer than Jupiter, as Sitchin
suggested, because such an orbit
is unstable. Its period would be drastically
altered in a single revolution,
and it would eventually collide with Jupiter
or get ejected from the solar
system....
....Even if giant Jupiter came
galloping into the inner solar
system, its tidal effects on
Earth would be negligible unless it came quite
close. But the probability
of such a close approach is very small; and
again, such an orbit is highly
unstable and would soon be eliminated. For
example, comets in such orbits
cannot survive longer than about 100,000
years....