Could this be Planet Ten?
2 Aug 2017 by Evoluted New Media
Scientists are hinting there’s a new planetary object based on the outskirts of our Solar System – distinct from the now famous Planet Nine.
Scientists are hinting there’s a new planetary object based on the outskirts of our Solar System – distinct from the now famous Planet Nine.
The ‘planetary mass object’ was only spotted after researchers noticed its effect on the orbital planes of space rocks on the edge of the Solar System – Kuiper Belt objects (KBO). While most KBOs orbit the sun with uniform orbital tilts, known as the invariable plane of the solar system, those observed by the scientists didn’t.
Dr Kat Volk, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Arizona and lead author of the study published in The Astronomical Journal, said: “The most likely explanation for our results is that there is some unseen mass. According to our calculations, something as massive as Mars would be needed to cause the warp that we measured.”
The Kuiper Belt lies outside the orbit of Neptune, and extends to a few hundred Astronomical Units (AU) – one AU represents the distance between Earth and the Sun. Similar to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, it hosts small icy bodies and a few dwarf planets.
Dr Volk and Professor Renu Malhotra, also from the University, analysed the orbital planes of more than 600 objects in the Kuiper Belt to determine the common direction in which these orbital planes precess. Precession is the slow change in the orientation of a rotating object.
Professor Malhotra said: “Imagine you have lots and lots of fast-spinning tops, and you give each one a slight nudge. If you then take a snapshot of them, you will find their spin axes will be at different orientations, but on average, they will be pointing to the gravitational field of Earth. We expect each of the KBOs’ orbital tilt angle to be at a different orientation, but on average, they will be pointing perpendicular to the plane determined by the sun and the big planets.”
The chance to confirm this data will come once the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is built. It is expected to go live in 2020 and increase the number of observed KBOs from 2000 to 40,000.
