Juno would have a spectacular view of the Milky Way but Sol would just be another bright star in a perpetual night sky
If you believe in math and gravity and other such “theories” there appears to be precise evidence of a big, fat planet spinning far beyond the planetoid Pluto. The clues started piling up when astronomers discovered a mini Pluto (aka, rocky Kuiper Belt object far out in the nether regions of the solar system) with an interesting orbital twist… literally. From Time:
In the years that followed, astronomers discovered five other KBOs whose closest approach to the sun (or perihelion) matches Sedna’s almost perfectly, both in distance and in the angle of the orbit relative to the horizon of the solar system.
This couldn’t be a coincidence. The matching perihelia have only a 0.7% likelihood of occurring by chance; the matching angles have only a 1% chance. The double match among all six objects factors out to a vanishingly small .007% likelihood of being random. “It was very exciting to notice this collection of objects in this super obscure arrangement,” says Brown. “The orbits are physically lined up in space.”
Okay, so that just can’t happen. Clearly a shepherd was out there keeping all of these rocky masses from spinning around the Sun however they choose. Using very sharp pencils two Caltech astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, not only have validated the existence of this mystery planet they’ve referred to as “Planet 9”, they have determined both it’s mass and exact orbit. The only thing really missing from “9” is a fuzzy picture and a real name.
Planet 9 from Outer Space is apparently about 10 times the mass of Earth with an orbit 20 times farther out from the sun than Neptune. No other variables would explain the perihelion anomalies. Most likely it was created closer to the Sun back in the Good Ole Days and got slung into the ex-burbs shortly thereafter. With a 20,000 year orbit “9” would view it’s Sun more like a very bright star from it’s dark surface but there are a lot of life possibilities. Pluto has shown that these Kuiper objects can have a lot of geological activity and lots of water. A planet ten times the mass of earth with a geological composition akin to Pluto could have a tremendous internal furnace and magnetic field.
My nomination for the name is Juno. Why shouldn’t Jupiter’s wife have a planet, even if they, clearly, are estranged these days. Expect those fuzzy pictures to come from some amateur within months now that they’ve been spooned the orbital rout in sky.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/20/1472525/-Census-of-the-Solar-System-PLANET-9-in-Outer-Space
Seems we may have a rather significant discovery…
MIAMI (AFP) – A previously unknown giant planet, nicknamed Planet Nine, may have been discovered lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system, US scientists announced on Wednesday.
Of significant mass…
The object “has a mass about 10 times that of Earth” and follows a “bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the distant solar system,” said a statement by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Extraordinary Orbit…
“In fact, it would take this new planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the Sun.”
The report was published in the Astronomical Journal.
Interesting as well is the manner in which the discovery was hypothesized…
Researchers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown say they found the planet through mathematical modeling and computer simulations, and have not yet observed the object directly.
The celestial body has about 5,000 times the mass of Pluto.
“This would be a real ninth planet,” said Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy.
“It’s a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that’s still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting.”
© 2016 AFP
Scientists believe its gravity has affected the motion of dwarf planets in the outer solar system, essentially perturbing celestial bodies in the field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt.
“Like a parent maintaining the arc of a child on a swing with periodic pushes, Planet Nine nudges the orbits of distant Kuiper Belt objects such that their configuration with relation to the planet is preserved,” explained CalTech in a statement.
The speculation as to it’s formation and the search for it’s current location…
The planet could have been cast off during the early formation of the solar system, when four major cores grabbed up the gas around them and formed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Perhaps Planet Nine represented a fifth core, that may have gotten too close to Jupiter or Saturn and been ejected into its current, distant orbit, said Brown.
A host of powerful telescopes are currently hunting for Planet Nine, including the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea in Hawaii.
What could this mean for us…
“Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we’ve become increasingly convinced that it is out there,” said Batygin, an assistant professor of planetary science.
“For the first time in over 150 years, there is solid evidence that the solar system’s planetary census is incomplete.”
(AFP)
Plan 9 from Outer Space
What’s a touch, without a nosh… ;D
DarkSyde
This week in science: planet nine from outer space
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