New planet?!? Researchers release proof of planet beyond Pluto
- 8 years ago
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA — Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered evidence of a ninth planet beyond the orbit of Pluto.
Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, discovered the existence of the planet that’s been called “Planet Nine” through mathematical modeling and computer simulations. While evidence shows the strong possibility of the new planet, researchers are still looking to make a visual observation.
The discovery and observation of dwarf planets and other small objects in the outer solar system have led researchers to believe that a larger hidden planet exists. The smaller bodies have orbits that appear to have been perturbed, or influenced by the gravity of a larger mass.
The theory was originally set forth in a 2014 paper by Scott Sheppard of the Washington-based Carnegie Institution of Science and Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, which discussed the potential existence of a giant planet affecting the orbits of those dwarf worlds.
Batygin and Brown set out to debunk the theory, but ended up only finding supporting facts.
The planet is predicted to be 10 times the mass of Earth and to orbit about 20 times further from the sun than Neptune. It is estimated that it would take 10,000 to 20,000 years for Planet Nine to complete an orbit around the sun.
Its size and gravitational dominance over smaller objects in its solar neighborhood, according to researchers, make it undoubtedly a planet, unlike Pluto which has been reclassified as a dwarf planet.
The observations of Planet Nine is similar to that of the 19th century revelation of Neptune when researchers observed perturbations in Uranus’ orbit as a result of the larger neighboring planet.
Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, discovered the existence of the planet that’s been called “Planet Nine” through mathematical modeling and computer simulations. While evidence shows the strong possibility of the new planet, researchers are still looking to make a visual observation.
The discovery and observation of dwarf planets and other small objects in the outer solar system have led researchers to believe that a larger hidden planet exists. The smaller bodies have orbits that appear to have been perturbed, or influenced by the gravity of a larger mass.
The theory was originally set forth in a 2014 paper by Scott Sheppard of the Washington-based Carnegie Institution of Science and Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, which discussed the potential existence of a giant planet affecting the orbits of those dwarf worlds.
Batygin and Brown set out to debunk the theory, but ended up only finding supporting facts.
The planet is predicted to be 10 times the mass of Earth and to orbit about 20 times further from the sun than Neptune. It is estimated that it would take 10,000 to 20,000 years for Planet Nine to complete an orbit around the sun.
Its size and gravitational dominance over smaller objects in its solar neighborhood, according to researchers, make it undoubtedly a planet, unlike Pluto which has been reclassified as a dwarf planet.
The observations of Planet Nine is similar to that of the 19th century revelation of Neptune when researchers observed perturbations in Uranus’ orbit as a result of the larger neighboring planet.