A new study could give us clues about the mysterious Planet 9 that will inhabit the solar system.
You may also find yourself behind one of our frost giants.
We know almost everything about the solar system, although there are still mysteries to be uncovered in our cosmic environment. Perhaps one of the most important is beliefs of some scientists that on the outer edge of our star system there is planet it’s left hiddenbut it could be found within a short time.
The mystery of the ninth planet of the solar system
This may sound like an idea from one of Netflix’s sci-fi movies, but a recent… study I think I found it “strong statistical evidence” O existence of Planet 9also called Planet X in some circles.
Recently, thanks to research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, we learned that it may be mysterious planet It has much more elongated orbit than we expected. And although we have not yet been able to witness his direct observation, we can use That observations from the so-called trans-Neptunian objectsthat is, those celestial bodies whose orbit is beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune.
Strong evidence for the presence of a massive object beyond Neptune’s orbital range is forcing astronomers to reconsider the existence of Planet 9. By analyzing the observed population of long-period, nearly flat objects crossing Neptune, and mapping orbital trajectories in… pic.twitter.com/PJsRsCkUPf
— Maurizio Iβλἄ (@Dragonmaurizio) April 25, 2024
He studycarried out, in particular, by Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, who, as is known, participated in the reclassification of Pluto into a dwarf planet, had studied the motion of unstable trans-Neptunian objects. What could in principle be due to the influence of Jupiter seems to go even further, given that this planet will somehow change the orbits of those who approach its location.
When included in simulation the presence of the so-called Planet 9it seems that orbital properties of specified objects It matched perfectly with who they were. planned. According to statements collected during the study:
Our results show that the orbital architecture of this group of objects closely matches the predictions of the model including Planet 9.
Thanks to tools is located in Vera Rubin Observatoryscientists believe they can shed a little more light on the mystery after a planet that has been elusive to us for decades. Some hypothesis They guarantee that it is planet can be found 20 times farther from the Sun than Neptunewhich would mean that its orbit around the Sun would take between 10,000 and 20,000 Earth years.