Let me tell you about when I discovered a new planet. There are not only nine planets visible from Earth - as most people think - there are actually ten. My pursuits as an amateur astronomer has led me to find a previously unknown heavenly body, which I have called LL-B28. I stumbled upon the discovery by accident, but since then I have made repeated observations of this ethereal phenomenon.
To observe her, look up at the sky to the northwest in the spring. She is most clearly visible during early mornings or evenings - but not too late at night. I assure you that the effort is worth it. At first, the view may appear to be in no way special, but with repeated observation, the full magnificence of this celestial body can be appreciated, making her a most beautiful sight.
She lies there in silence, partly lit by the sun, as a sharp crescent of deepest red, surrounded by total blackness. If you look carefully, you can see several smaller objects circling around her. Drawn in by the gravitational pull from the vicinity of the planet, these bodies have been trapped in orbit around her. As they have become moons, they have no choice but to steadfastly encircle the planet, doomed to an eternal silent dance around her, neither going too far away nor too close. Of course, just like any other planet, she is wholly unaware of the gravitational pull she exerts.
Once I observed a distant comet coming very close to her at high velocity, passing her at a distance of only a few hundred kilometers. Despite the force of the comet on its way through, it appears to have disturbed the equilibrium between the planet and its moons only slightly.
What is the fate of planet LL-B28 and her moons? Two things could happen to the moons encircling the planet. Either two or more of them could come too close to each other, resulting in their destruction. Or one of the moons could start to lose altitude, circling lower and lower until it eventually plunges to the planet's surface and crashes.
Myself, being only an amateur astronomer, I do not know what will happen to the planet and her moons. She seems to lie there, as if waiting for the right astronomical event to take place. Will it be an icy comet sweeping past her, bringing the frozen seeds of life with it? Or maybe an intelligent species eventually will make their way to the planet, descend and populate it.
As I noticed that more and more time and effort was spent making observations of the planet, I have tried to discontinue this pursuit, if not to save my own sanity. However, I found that this was not easily done. In fact, I could not help myself taking another look in the telescope - and if that was not available, the image was still produced by my own mind.
Maybe it has to do with my position in this drama: I am actually located on one of the moons.