Earth's Mass Extinctions

I once watched a show on the History channel that theorized on the various mass extinctions Earth had suffered in its past. Scientists had theorized that the Earth had suffered 5 mass extinctions in its past. In the show, mass extinctions are a period of time where 90% of the living plants and animals on Earth were killed.

The scientists theorized what would cause the death of so many animals and one of the crazier ideas was that of Planet X. Planet X is supposed to be a planet that goes past Earth so close that it would affect the gravitation pull of the Earth. The scientists on the show theorized that Planet X once past by Earth and the gravitation pull on the Earth caused earthquakes so severe it caused a mass extinction. However since all planets orbit a sun, that’s a crazy idea right?

The joke is on me because now astronomers have discovered a whole new class of planets that float through space without any discernible sun. Called “rogue planets”, these are basically planets that travel through space without any orbit whatsoever. What’s more, astronomers say these rogue planets likely outnumbered orbiting planets 2 to 1!

Rogue planets that travel through space without any orbit? A Planet X that went passed by Earth? Suddenly the idea doesn’t sound so crazy.