Planet Nine, the ninth planet that astronomers are looking for, has the potential to change how we think about planetary systems. According to the 2014 search, this hidden planet might be five to seven times as big as Earth and have an impact on adjacent Kuiper Belt objects.
With continuous searches for a hidden ninth planet, sometimes known as Planet Nine or Planet X, astronomers think that our solar system may still surprise them. CNN claims that if verified, this finding might fundamentally alter our knowledge of planetary systems.When astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo observed odd patterns in the orbits of a number of objects outside of Neptune in 2014, the search got underway. An unseen giant planet appeared to have influenced these icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto and other dwarf planets can be found in the Kuiper Belt, a huge region of ice debris that was left over after the formation of the solar system. It stretches well beyond Neptune.
According to astronomers, Planet Nine may be five to seven times as large as Earth and located more than 200 times farther away from the sun than Earth. Its orbit around the Sun is thought to last between 10,000 and 20,000 years.
Although it has never been physically witnessed, its existence is assumed based on the behavior of neighboring objects.
The search for this enigmatic planet is being led by planetary science professors Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin of the California Institute of Technology.
According to Brown, who is well-known for helping Pluto be reclassified as a dwarf planet, discovering Planet Nine would be a significant discovery. Since 2014, he and Batygin have been developing the idea, motivated by the research conducted by Sheppard and Trujillo.
"I never imagined that I would be discussing the evidence for a trans-Neptunian planet, but I think that unlike all of those earlier instances, in this case, we're actually right," Brown said, as reported by CNN.
Doubt about Planet Nine
There has been skepticism about the search. There are disagreements among scientists, according to Yale University astronomy professor Malena Rice. Some scientists are certain that Planet Nine exists, whereas others are not. They think that a lot of predictions about trans-Neptunian planets have not come true.
"I usually try to use Occam's razor when deciding what to prioritize in terms of checking, but there are a lot of other ideas," Rice stated.
0 Comments