It is one and a half or even three times the size of the Earth, and could be up to five hundred times farther from our planet than the Sun: according to a study published in the American astronomical journal The Astronomical Journal, the existence of a previously unknown planet from the outer solar system, gas planets and comets cannot be ruled out. In the “inhabited” part.
The scientific article published by several researchers may revolutionize theories about the formation of the solar system: powerfully, according to the authors
It is possible that there is a ninth planet the size of Earth
In the outer solar system.
For the first time, clumps of material that form the basis of giant planets have been discovered around a young star
For the first time, clumps of material that form the basis of giant planets have been discovered around a young star.
Anomalies in the Kuiper Belt
Patrick Sofia Likaoka and Takashi Ito of Kindai University and the Japanese Astronomical Observatory, respectively, published in Washington, D.C., American Astronomical Society In their article published in the Astronomical Journal Summarize their research on the new planet. The article has been summarized by asciencealert.com, among others.
Scientists mainly studied one region of the solar system, the Kuiper Belt. The movement and “behavior” of the objects here may point to the supposed celestial body.
This region is a disc-shaped region in the outer solar system outside the orbit of Neptune, in which several dwarf planets also orbit. The most famous of them is Pluto, which was considered the ninth planet of the solar system from its discovery in 1930 until August 2006, but since then it has been classified as a dwarf planet.
Scientists believe that an Earth-like planet may be hiding in our solar system https://t.co/Wszsx4g4ma
– ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) September 1, 2023
There are many so-called trans-Neptunian objects in the Kuiper Belt. These are celestial bodies in the orbit of Neptune or orbiting behind it. Pluto also belongs to this group.
The little red piece of evidence
An example of such an object is Sedna, discovered by astronomer Michael Brown in 2003, which is a spherical red dwarf planet that orbits in about 40 Earth days. Sedna, which was considered for a long time to be a potential planet, is evidence of the existence of an Earth-sized planet, according to the authors of the article.
Researchers say the orbits of Sedna and other extra-Neptune objects are linked to the possible presence of an Earth-sized planet.
According to several simulations conducted by the research team and described in the article, the potential planet could be 1.5-3 times larger than Earth and located 250-500 AU from the Sun.
(The astronomical unit is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is about 150 million kilometers – ed.)
This is an unknown part of the solar system; For example, Pluto is 40 AU from the Sun, and the Kuiper Belt is 30 AU away.
On an inclined path
According to Patrick Sofia Licoca and Takashi Ito, the movement of the hypothesized planet may explain what is beyond Neptune Also for the specific behavior of objects.
An explanation has been found for the possible formation mechanism of some families of asteroids in the Sun-Jupiter system
The study that presented the results was published in Acta Astronautica, the official journal of the International Academy of Astronautics.
According to scientists, if this planet moves in what is called an “inclined” orbit,
It can explain many of the distinctive properties of Kuiper Belt objects,
For example, as sciencealert.com notes, “the large number of objects in orbits that exceed the influence of Neptune’s gravity, the presence of a large group of numerous objects with high inclination, and some extreme objects with extreme orbits.”
– Astronomers have identified more than 4,000 planets orbiting other stars
The most common types of planets in our galaxy are super-Earths and mini-Neptunes
Astronomers estimate that there are between 300 million and 40 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way.
(Kepler et al) pic.twitter.com/VXx79MeJBj
— Talib Garaboncias (@GarabonciasDiak) October 1, 2023
Unexpected – even today
According to scientists, studying celestial bodies in the Kuiper Belt confirms the existence of a previously undiscovered planet in the outer solar system. Searching for extra-Neptune objects is new. “It also suggests the existence of a previously unknown cluster.” It is therefore possible to imagine a “gravitational cluster” within the solar system, about 150 AU.
If humanity reaches the technical level that A Using telescopes and detection techniques It would be possible to examine this area, then
Rather, it can be proven through observation
The existence of the ninth planet.
The featured image is an illustration. Photo: Esso/Getty Images
