Are possible ninth planet in the Solar System – The Economist

A previously unknown giant planet, dubbed Planet Nine, could have been discovered at the edge of the solar system.

The possible existence of a large planet, which until now has not been seen but would be part of our outer solar system, would be taking shape, as astronomers say they have significant evidence about the star called “Nine Planet”.

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According to orbital calculations, the planet exists in the periphery of the solar system, beyond Pluto, in the belt Kuiper, would be about 10 times the mass of Earth and would have an elliptical path around the sun between 10,000 and 20,000 years.

Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology deduced the existence of “Planet Nine” to from the way other Kuiper Belt objects, known as the kingdom of icy bodies located on the edge of our solar system move.

The first suggestion that there would be a hidden planet O data of a century ago, but Mike Brown and his colleague Konstantin Batygin, planetary scientists in astronomy institute, now offer the results of their observations

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In its report published Wednesday in The Astronomical Journal, they say that apparently the orbits of bodies in Kuiper are affected by the presence of an “invisible planet that is 10 times the mass of Earth but smaller than Uranus or Neptune. “

In recent years, astronomers have speculated about the existence of planets in the outer solar system, have even identified about two thousand new worlds orbiting stars that are hundreds of light years from Earth.

These steps are important scientists but none have been confirmed. But Brown’s proposal and Batygin is very different because the planet does not describe surrounding a distant star, but part of our own solar system

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According to astronomers, the closest distance reached by the “invisible world” from the Sun is about 30.5 million kilometers, ie five times farther the average distance to Pluto.

They note that despite its enormous size, the planet would be “very tenuous” and that this is the reason that no one has seen yet.

“I’m willing to take bets on any person who does not believe in its existence,” says Brown, for whom existing telescopes to detect this planet in just a few years, and now can point to a band of space where you can find .

Brown’s assertions become important as his work helped put Pluto off the list of planets in our solar system, also he discovered Eris and Sedna, small icy worlds.

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