data compiled by L Blake Finley, M.A, ABD-2 (revised and updated January 2019) PREFACE Beginning in the 1920s, the surveyor, amateur astronomer, and astrologer Alfred Witte, in a search for astronomical factors beyond Neptune, found events that consistently correlated with what he at first thought were planets. Later, his colleague Friedrich Sieggrün added four additional factors. Both studied in the 'Kepler Circle', an astrological group which sought to preserve only the most precise and reliable of astrological techniques, following the objective of Johannes Kepler, who was both an astronomer and astrologer. Elements of the Kepler Circle eventually developed into the Hamburg School of Astrology, elements of which are often referred to more recently as Uranian Astrology. Witte assumed his four transneptunian factors to be planets, as did Sieggrün his four additional transneptunians. However, not all those working with the total of 8 trasneptunian factors used by Witte and Sieggrün assume that they are planets; positing that they could also be nodes of sorts, or barycenters of asteroidal belts or other astronomical factors revolving around a central point. Data for the Hamburg School Transneptunians has been fine-tuned over a period of time. The original data from Witte and Sieggrün is presented here, along with more recent updates based on the calculations of James Neely. Neely's updated information was used to calculate Ruth Brummund's second edition of the Transneptune Ephemeride (1890-2000) in 1975, her Transneptun Ephemeride 1920-2000, and the Transneptun Ephemeride 2001-2050. The purpose of the data being given below is not for ephemeris generation, and thus the figures are rounded off. This data gives one a general idea of where these factors have been assumed to be located, and can be used to track and match with the increasing astronomical data on transneptunian bodies being verified by recent space technology such as the Hubble Space Telescope. The numeric data for the Witte and Sieggrün transneptunians also helps in understanding the proportional relationship of these bodies to the Earth, our solar system, and the astronomically-ascertained planetary bodies within our system.
Witte's writings from the 1920s clearly indicate that his transneptunian discoveries to be planets. At the end of the 20th century, it was conjectured that the inner bodies may be Plutinos, and that some may be barycenters of collections of astronomical objects. Witte pointed out in the 1930s that his transneptunians are difficult to spot with normal telescopes, and may require use of infrared-type cameras... logically due in part to their great distance from Earth. It may be significant to note that those factors verified by most astronomers as full-fledged 'planets' (as opposed to asteroids, plutinos, planetoids, solar-system newcomers, etc.) are of steadily decreasing physical density (i.e. more gaseous) as we travel away from the Sun -- and this affects ready visual detectability. The following table includes the Neely data for the Witte-Sieggrun transneptunian points, as well as the older figures calculated by Witte & Sieggrün. Data for major asteroids, plutinos, and other bodies are also included for comparison of relative position and orbital factors.
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FOOTNOTES ¹ "Orbital period" here refers to what is also called the sidereal period, sidereal revolutionary period, or the simply the revolutionary period, depending on which text you refer to. It is the time needed for a planet to make one complete orbit or circle around the Sun. The figures to the left for the Witte-Sieggrün Transneptunians are based on the corrections calculated by James Neely in the 1980s; data provided by Ruth Brummund. ² Pluto is known to have a highly eccentric orbit, and its distance from the Sun therefore varies significantly, from approximately 30 to 50 AU; it periodically crosses over the path of Neptune and the hypothesized path of Cupido, and very close to, if not beyond, the path of Hades. Some astronomers in recent years even believe Pluto to be more in the "centaur" classification (as are Chiron and Transpluto) than in the "planet" category, and/or to be one of a number of "Plutinos", i.e. a belt of asteroid-like bodies the Transneptunian region. From this, we can see an example of the rapidly and continually changing understanding of this region of our Solar System. While Pluto was first recognized as being "discovered" in 1930, conclusions have been drawn about its chemical and atmospheric composition that are still being investigated and significantly revised. Thus, earlier inferences about the impossibility of the co-existence of Pluto with nearby transneptunians are groundless, as the discoveries of Orcus (39.2 AU; orbital period 247.29 yrs; annual motion 1°28') and Ixion (39.6 AU; orbital period 249.8 yrs; annual motion 1°14') and other Plutinos have already shown. For a detailed summary of recent U S Government data on the Transneptunian regions arriving from space telescopes, see http://www.nas.edu/ssb/neptmenu.htm . ³ One Astronomical Unit (1 AU) is defined as the distance from our Sun to the Earth. Therefore, by looking at the chart, we see that Saturn is 9.5 times as far from our Sun as Earth is; that Pluto is 39.5 times as far from our Sun as Earth is; that Hades is assumed to be 50.7 times as far from our Sun as Earth is; and that Poseidon is supposed to be 83.7 times as far from our Sun as Earth is, over twice as distant as Pluto from our Sun. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brummund, R. Transneptun Ephemeride 1920-2000. Hamburg, Germany: Udo Rudolph Verlag. Brummund, R. Transneptun Ephemeride 2001-2050. Hamburg, Germany: Udo Rudolph Verlag. Encyclopaedia Brittanica. 1998. Neely, J. 1977?. Transneptune data sheet. San Diego CA, USA: Unpublished manuscript forwarded by Ruth Brummund. Vanin, G. 1996. A Photographic Tour of the Universe. Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books Ltd. Witte, A., & Sieggrün, F. 1932, 1950. Immerwährende Ephemeride. Hamburg, Germany: Witte-Verlag Ludwig Rudolph. Witte, A. 1975. Der Mensch--eine Empfangsstation kosmischer Suggestionen. Hamburg, Germany: Ludwig Rudolph (Witte-Verlag). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
