AGI – 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, as-yet-undiscovered planet. 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. “Together with my team we have found further evidence indicating the existence of the planet – said Konstantin Bogytin, an astronomer who helped popularize the theory -. The new work represents the strongest statistical evidence that Planet Nine is really out there.”
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 Neptune’s orbit. 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,” Bogytin stressed. The research group carried out a series of simulations to understand how the orbits of these objects were influenced by a series of factors, including the giant planets that surround them such as Neptune, the “galactic tide”, which comes from the Milky Way and the stars.
“However,” Bogytin said, “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 theory 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 exploration phase promises to provide relevant insights into the mysteries of the outer regions of our solar system,” the authors concluded.
