A new 9th planet for the solar system?
A new paper from one of the discoverers of dwarf planets Eris and Sedna provides indirect evidence that there is a large planet orbiting the Sun much farther out than Pluto.
Paper:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/feature-astronomers-say-neptune-sized-planet-lurks-unseen-solar-system
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42GeoCVaZQg
#space #planetx #universe #research
What I find interesting about this 'new' planet is that without it, life on Earth would not exist and our planet would be adrift in the cosmos, or at least not in the goldilocks zone, thanks to big bear Jupiter
ReplyDeleteSam Collett how do you figure Sam?
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Jupiter being called the shephard of the solar system with regard to the asteroid belt, but never anything similar about this as of yet only imagined planet way out past the kuiper belt. So far this mystery planet's existence has only been postulated based on the motion of a few comparatively tiny objects way way out there.
There are a number of major still missing pieces of the puzzle (besides the planet itself) that are yet to be satisfied to prove it is the correct answer.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/01/20/not-so-fast-why-there-likely-isnt-a-large-planet-beyond-pluto/#5f41b3c45af4467ea15af432
Aside: my six year old son while discussing this new planet with him this morning: "Daddy, I don't think it's a new planet, it's probably a very very old planet."
ReplyDeleteIt's all speculation in the end, based on computer simulations, but it is possible that given the current planets in our system, the current arrangement is unlikely without another planet of some kind. http://m.space.com/13584-extra-giant-planet-solar-system.html
ReplyDeleteStill sad about Pluto no longer being a planet.
ReplyDeleteEven though it has its own moons.