ilan
05-27-2018, 12:20 PM
Does Planet Nine exist? Astronomers point to new evidence
Paul Scott Anderson in SPACE | May 27, 2018
A new study concludes that a large, as-yet-unknown Planet Nine – an estimated 4 times the size of Earth and 10 times its mass – is influencing the behavior of an oddball object in the outer solar system.
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/uploaded_files/graphics/fullscreen_graphics/0011/2852/sig11-013_Sm.jpg
Planet Nine may be a super-Earth, a type of exoplanet found orbiting many stars.
They are rocky and larger than Earth, but smaller than Uranus or Neptune. Image via NASA/JPL.
Is there a ninth major planet lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system? This question has become one of the most hotly debated in planetary science. The idea of a large, unknown Planet Nine residing so far from the sun that it hasn’t yet been discovered is certainly tantalizing. So far, there’ve been hints as to its existence, but no confirmation yet. We might be getting closer to finding it, however. Last week, an international team of researchers presented additional evidence, detailed in a new study, suggesting that Planet Nine is influencing the behavior of an oddball object – 2015 BP519 (aka Caju) – in the outer solar system.
Astronomers at Caltech had previously calculated the likely existence of a large ninth planet (sorry, Pluto) in the outer fringes of the solar system, based on the orbits of smaller icy objects. Their orbits were being perturbed by the gravitational influence of … something.
According to the astronomers’ calculations, the as-yet-undiscovered planet should be about four times the size of Earth and 10 times its mass. That would make it similar to super-Earth exoplanets found orbiting other stars. And that would be interesting, since many super-Earths have now been discovered, although there were none to be seen in our own solar system. But maybe there is one after all, so far from the sun that it has remained hidden.
Such a discovery would be very exciting, since super-Earths are larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus or Neptune, different from anything else in our solar system. If a large Planet Nine is there, it is very far away, much farther than Pluto. If it exists, it likely takes about 10,000 to 20,000 years to complete one orbit around the sun.
Paul Scott Anderson in SPACE | May 27, 2018
A new study concludes that a large, as-yet-unknown Planet Nine – an estimated 4 times the size of Earth and 10 times its mass – is influencing the behavior of an oddball object in the outer solar system.
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/uploaded_files/graphics/fullscreen_graphics/0011/2852/sig11-013_Sm.jpg
Planet Nine may be a super-Earth, a type of exoplanet found orbiting many stars.
They are rocky and larger than Earth, but smaller than Uranus or Neptune. Image via NASA/JPL.
Is there a ninth major planet lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system? This question has become one of the most hotly debated in planetary science. The idea of a large, unknown Planet Nine residing so far from the sun that it hasn’t yet been discovered is certainly tantalizing. So far, there’ve been hints as to its existence, but no confirmation yet. We might be getting closer to finding it, however. Last week, an international team of researchers presented additional evidence, detailed in a new study, suggesting that Planet Nine is influencing the behavior of an oddball object – 2015 BP519 (aka Caju) – in the outer solar system.
Astronomers at Caltech had previously calculated the likely existence of a large ninth planet (sorry, Pluto) in the outer fringes of the solar system, based on the orbits of smaller icy objects. Their orbits were being perturbed by the gravitational influence of … something.
According to the astronomers’ calculations, the as-yet-undiscovered planet should be about four times the size of Earth and 10 times its mass. That would make it similar to super-Earth exoplanets found orbiting other stars. And that would be interesting, since many super-Earths have now been discovered, although there were none to be seen in our own solar system. But maybe there is one after all, so far from the sun that it has remained hidden.
Such a discovery would be very exciting, since super-Earths are larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus or Neptune, different from anything else in our solar system. If a large Planet Nine is there, it is very far away, much farther than Pluto. If it exists, it likely takes about 10,000 to 20,000 years to complete one orbit around the sun.