The ninth planet of the Solar System discovered: it’s a revolution

New evidence seems to suggest the existence of a hidden planet in our solar system. This is what emerges from an international study, published on arXiv. For years, some astronomers have argued that the unusual behavior at the edge of the solar system is best explained by the existence of another undiscovered planet: the planet nine. This would provide clarity regarding the orbits of objects at the far edges of our solar system, more than 250 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

The ninth planet of the Solar System

“My team and I found further evidence pointing to the planet’s existence“, he said Konstantin Bogytin, astronomer who helped popularize the theory. “The new work represents the strongest statistical evidence that Planet Nine is really out there“Bogytin said.

In the study, scientists examined a series of trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, which is the technical term for all objects that lie at the edge of the solar system, beyond Neptune. The new work examined those objects whose motion is made unstable because they interact with the orbit of Neptune. This instability made them more difficult to understand, so astronomers studying a possible Planet Nine have usually avoided using them in their analyses.

Now, the researchers looked towards these objects instead, trying to understand their movements. “The best explanation is that they come from another undiscovered planet“, he underlined Bogytin.

The discovery of Planet 9

The research team carried out a series of simulations to understand how the orbits of these objects were influenced by a number of factors, including the giant planets surrounding them such as Neptune, thegalactic tide“, which comes from the Milky Way and the stars. “However“, he has declared Bogytin,”the best explanation was the model that included Planet Nine“.

The researchers noted that there are other interpretations for the behavior of these objects, including that other planets influenced their orbit but have since been removed, but they argue that the Planet Nine remains the best.

An in-depth understanding of the existence or otherwise of Planet Nine will be achieved with the switching on of the Vera C Rubin Observatory. The observatory is being built in Chile and, once up and running, will be able to scan the sky, so as to understand the behavior of these distant objects.

“This upcoming phase of exploration promises to provide relevant insights into the mysteries of the outer regions of our solar system“, concluded the authors.