A new hidden planet in our solar system
A new hidden planet in our solar system, In the early 19th century, astronomers were trying to understand the orbits of exoplanets, especially Uranus, which was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
The movement of that planet was completely mysterious; Its observed orbit did not match theoretical predictions based on gravitational interactions with known planets such as Jupiter and Saturn.
So, scientists concluded that there was an unknown celestial body affecting the orbit of Uranus.
Uranus’ orbit
The French mathematician, Urbain Le Verrier, and the English astronomer, John Coach Adams, began working independently on this phenomenon in the mid-nineteenth century.
They used observed deviations in Uranus’ orbit to calculate the likely position and mass of an unseen planet that might cause these disturbances.
Le Verrier wrote letters to several prominent astronomers across Europe, including Johann Gottfried Galle at the Berlin Observatory, detailing his calculations and the expected location of the new planet.
Le Verrier’s predictions were so accurate that he determined where astronomers should direct their telescopes to find the new planet.
A NASA photo taken on September 6, 2023, showing Comet Nishimura in an unknown location in space.
On the evening of September 23, 1846, Galle directed his telescope to the location specified by Le Verrier to find a new planet, whose descriptions matched the data of the French scientist.
News spread around the world, and newspapers talked about the eighth entrant in our solar system: the planet Neptune.
But the discovery of the planet revealed a new dilemma. Its orbit also does not agree with theoretical expectations. Therefore, scientists began searching for another planet whose mass would affect the new planet. Indeed, they were able to find a small celestial body that they called “Pluto.”
New planet
However, Pluto’s small mass and the great distance separating it from Neptune cannot cause deviations in the latter’s orbit. So, scientists proposed the existence of another planet, which they called “X”, located near Neptune.
Now, according to a recent study whose results were published in the Astronomical Journal, it appears that scientists have found a new planet, after Patrick Sofia Likoka from Kindai University in Japan, and Takashi Ito, also from the National Astronomical Observatory in Japan, investigated trans-Neptunian objects and orbital behaviors. Alien.
The orbital motion of the planets in our solar system is governed by gravitational interactions between them, according to Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity and motion. These interactions play a crucial role in shaping the orbits of planets and other celestial bodies
Kuiper Belt
The new planet is located in an area known as the “Kuiper Belt”, and the study says that it is “similar to Earth”, as its size is between 1.5 and three times the size of the blue planet.
Scientists have not yet observed that planet with telescopes, but rather they used computer simulations to analyze the effects of its presence on both Neptune and other objects in the Kuiper Belt that do not qualify as planets.
The Kuiper Belt is located about 30 astronomical units from Neptune and extends for hundreds of other units.
It consists of countless icy bodies orbiting the sun at huge distances and dwarf planets, including Pluto, Quar, Orcus, and “Makimaki.”
Astronomers say that many of these objects have strangely tilted elliptical orbits, perhaps because they are being dragged by a “hidden planet.” A new hidden planet in our solar system
The lead author of the study, Patrick Sofia Licoca, said in special statements to the “Journal” that “the uncontrolled orbits of the objects inhabiting the ‘Kuiper Belt’ have remained a mystery for years…
and it seems that the new planet is able to solve the mystery.”
Gravitational interactions
The orbital motion of the planets in our solar system is governed by gravitational interactions between them, according to Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity and motion.
These interactions play a crucial role in shaping the orbits of planets and other celestial bodies.
AFPThe question mark-shaped object in the image is likely an interaction between two galaxies
Every body has mass in the universe, which attracts other bodies with the same mass through gravity. In the case of planets, the mass of each planet exerts a gravitational force on all the other planets in the solar system.
The planets move in semi-elliptical (semi-elliptical) orbits around the Sun due to the gravity of the Sun itself. This oval shape is the result of a balance between the planet’s inertia, which tends to keep its motion in a straight line, and the Sun’s gravity, which pulls the planet inward.
The new planet is located in the Kuiper Belt, is three times the size of Earth, and revolves around the Sun once every 11,400 years. This makes it the longest planetary orbit ever in our solar system
Elliptical orbits
Planets do not move in perfect elliptical orbits because they are affected by the gravity of other planets. These gravitational interactions create small disturbances or deviations in the planets’ orbits.
For example, Jupiter’s enormous gravity greatly affects the orbits of nearby planets such as Mars, and this also happens between objects in the Kuiper Belt and Neptune.
Based on those observations, Licocca says large-scale computer simulations of the outer solar system confirm “the influential role played by a large, hitherto unseen planet.”
Planet Nine hypothesis
In the early twentieth century, scientists began searching the vast expanses of space for Planet X, which is 10 times the size of Earth and is located within our solar system.
That planet is responsible for strange features in the solar system, including the strangely tilted orbits of a few Kuiper Belt objects.
This hypothesis has captured the attention of many, but the planet has not yet been discovered. “Our planet is much smaller than Planet X, but it can explain all the strange features,” Licocca says.
Lecocca
Lecocca says the planet could be between 200 and 500 astronomical units from the sun and tilted at about 30 degrees. This vast distance makes monitoring it difficult.
For example, Pluto is 39 astronomical units (one astronomical unit equals 150 million kilometers) away from Earth.
Scientists say that this planet revolves around the sun once every 11,400 years. This makes it the longest planetary orbit ever in our solar system.
An icy and active planet
Planet X has an extremely cold surface temperature of less than minus 240 degrees Celsius. But, according to Licocca, the planet likely has a lot of internal energy, which indicates the presence of subsurface oceans; “Based on the data we have, many volcanoes could be active and many interactions could occur between the planet’s surface and its inner core.”
Discovering a new planet in our solar system is a big deal. Officially, we will have nine planets again, after Pluto was demoted from a planet to a body
The hypothesized planet may have mountains, hills, peaks, and even glaciers and plains. “Geologically, the planet is an active, rocky, icy Earth-like planet that is about 1,000 times larger than the known Kuiper Belt dwarf planets.”
Without a doubt, discovering a new planet in our solar system is a big deal. Officially, we will have nine planets again, after Pluto was demoted from planet to body in 2006, so our group now contains eight planets.
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Searching for life
Recognizing that planet will certainly not be easy, says Licocca, who stresses that there is an urgent need to redefine the planets; “The planets located in the post-Neptune region likely belong to a new class of planets in terms of orbit, composition, size, and even conditions of origin.”
The recognition of the planet will also bring about a revolution that requires reviewing all theories related to the formation of planets and our solar system.
Earth-like planets
“We will need to understand how Earth-like planets acquire distant, eccentric, and tilted orbits, especially since the eight known planets have semi-circular, low-inclination orbits.”
We will also need to test whether this planet formed “alone” in the distant Kuiper Belt, and later acquired its strangely tilted orbit, or perhaps it formed in the region where giant planets formed and became the “sole survivor” of the deep and violent dynamical interactions that.
It occurred among those massive planets, which may have led to the swallowing of “small planets.”
If we let the imagination run wild, the Earth-like planet could be harboring simple organisms or alien life in its hypothetical subterranean oceans. In this sense, I believe that the discovery of this supposed planet could also enhance the discussion of the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system
PATRICK SOFIA LIKUKA OF KINDAI UNIVERSITY IN JAPAN
This hidden planet has conditions similar to or better than those found in the moons orbiting the giant planets of our solar system, such as Titan or Europa.
The prospects for life on that planet could be better than we think, says Licocca: “If we let the imagination run wild, an Earth-like planet might be harboring simple organisms or alien life in its hypothetical subterranean oceans.
In that sense, I think the discovery of this hypothetical planet could make “It also promotes discussion of the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.”
ShutterstockModel of the solar system according to NASA
However, although the hypothesis of the existence of that planet has gained great interest from research groups around the world, the theory has also been controversial.
Recognition of the planet will bring about a revolution that will require reviewing all theories related to the formation of the planets and our solar system
Kuiper Belt
Some astronomers argue that the highly skewed orbits of Kuiper Belt objects, which deemed the existence of that planet necessary, could have occurred without the presence of the hidden planet.
Another independent study claimed that the team behind that discovery used biased data, concluding that there was a very low chance that such a planet existed.
Licocca says that they used computer simulations just as the French mathematician Le Verrier did more than 170 years ago: “Le Verrier used mathematics and wrote down on his papers the rates and calculations of orbital mechanics and predicted with extreme accuracy the existence of the planet ‘Neptune’… A new hidden planet in our solar system
We used the computer to repeat that and predicted through the power of Data on the existence of that planet, as we have precisely determined its orbit and location… Not everything that we do not see with the eye does not exist.”
I’m Hassan Saeed, a Clinical Psychology graduate deeply engaged in the realms of WordPress, blogging, and technology. I enjoy merging my psychological background with the digital landscape. Let’s connect and explore these exciting intersections!
