Scientists Think There’s A Missing Ninth Planet (No, Not Pluto)
Image via ID 96999243 © Allexxandar | Dreamstime.com
Since Pluto was downgraded, there have only been eight known planets in our Solar System. But in the recent years, scientists have said there could be evidence of ‘Planet Nine’, an unknown planet that’s not yet discovered.
In a new study, scientists have estimated where Planet Nine would be, far away on the outer edge of the Solar System. They had initially theorized that the planet existed, due to its gravitational pull on other bodies in space.
This was similar to how Neptune was discovered, when John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier both realized (independent of one another) that Uranus was being “tugged” by another planet.
While there’s no gravitational pull that we know of with Planet Nine, astronomers have spotted a cluster of small icy bodies in the outer Solar System, which are known as Kuiper belt objects (KBOs).
Chances are, if there wasn’t a planet beyond the Kuiper belt, the icy bodies’ orbits would be randomly occurring within the orbital plane of the Solar System. However, with so many KBO orbits clustered in the same place, it’s possible this is caused by an unknown outer planet.
In 2016, scientists concluded that this was the most likely reason, and based on their calculations, Planet Nine would have a mass five times of Earth, and is 10 times further from the Sun than Neptune. They tried to calculate where the planet might be, but searches didn’t find anything.
According to Universe Today, this inconclusive result has led some to believe this planet doesn’t even exist, or that it’s blocked by a black hole.
The authors of the new study said they still found the clustering of the KBOs statistically unusual, with only 0.4% chance it’s random. Plus, when they recalculate the position of Planet Nine, they found a more specific region in which to conduct the search.
Interestingly, the scientists found Planet Nine could be located closer to the Sun than once thought. That would be odd, though, as if it were closer, wouldn’t scientists have stumbled upon it by now?
This then helps to further narrow down the region in which Planet Nine could exist, as it’s very likely not in the areas closest to the Sun. And if the planet exists, it could be detected by the Vera Rubin Observatory—which is under construction in Chile—in the near future.
Will we welcome a new planet into our Solar System, or will the cluster of KBOs really be due to chance? Let’s hope the scientists find out soon.
[via Universe Today, cover image via ID 96999243 © Allexxandar | Dreamstime.com]
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