Strange Orbit Strengthens Allegations There's a Ninth Planet
This week astronomers announced evidence that could show the existence of the ninth planet.
This follows up on the report of American astronomers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) who predicted the existence of the ninth planet two years ago.
According to the report at the time, the ninth planet has a mass 10 times heavier than Earth and is 20 times farther than Neptune's distance to the Sun.
At present there is not much evidence to reveal the existence of the ninth planet.
However, astronomers found another thing that has an indirect relationship with the mysterious planet, the space rock called 2015 BP519.
This small object has a tilted orbit controlled by larger planets that hide in galaxies, nothing but the ninth planet.
In a paper published at arXiv.org, the object's path is strange because it is very elliptical and orbits at an angle of 54 degrees.
"This is a Trans-Neptune (TNO) Object, a very cold object outside Neptune's orbit, the most extreme being found to date, because its inclination is very high," the report said on Gizmodo's website on Thursday (5/17/2018).
After modeling the orbital objects based on their observations, the team led by Michigan University graduate student Juliette Becker realized they still needed something to better explain why the orbit is so elliptical.
If formed in the solar system, it is unlikely that one of the planets we know is capable of controlling the object of that extreme sky.
Astronomers believe the BP519 orbit is related to the gravitational pull of the ninth planet that seems to interfere with the Kuiper Belt, an area full of ice on the edges of the solar system.
"This is not proof that Planet Nine exists, but I emphasize, the presence of this object in the solar system supports the Nine Planet case," said David Gerdes of the University of Michigan astronomer who was involved in the study to Quanta. ).
So, is there really a ninth Planet? The answer is still unclear. But if anything, at least we will get a ninth planet that is more feasible than Pluto.
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