11/27/2023 0 Comments Nasa news planet x![]() The last real planet to be discovered in our solar system was Neptune in 1846. NASA picks Pluto spacecraft New Horizons' latest destination. ![]() 9, but there aren't enough data at this point to guess, Brown said. Who knows, there could even be a Planet 10 out there well beyond No. The latter smacks of "aliens and the imminent destruction of the Earth," according to Brown. The Caltech researchers prefer calling it Planet 9, versus the historical term Planet X. It's an estimated 20 billion to 100 billion miles away. Or good backyard telescopes may spot it, they noted, if the planet is relatively closer to us in its swing around the sun. The vast, mysterious Kuiper Belt is home to Pluto as well.ĭepending on where this Planet 9 is in its egg-shaped orbit, a space telescope may be needed to confirm its presence, the researchers said. Prediction is not discovery." Minor planet Sedna offers cluesīrown and Batygin shaped their calculation on the fact that six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt, or Twilight Zone on the far reaches of the solar system, appear to have orbits influenced by only one thing: a real planet. "I'd be very happy if the Brown-Batygin were the exception to the rule, but we'll have to wait and see. To date, none of those predicts have been borne out by discoveries," Stern said in an email Wednesday. "This kind of thing comes around every few years. He still sees Pluto as a real planet - not a second-class dwarf. He is the principal scientist for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which buzzed Pluto last summer in the first-ever visit from Planet Earth. Pluto is a gravitational slave to Neptune, they pointed out.Īnother scientist, Alan Stern, said he's withholding judgment on the planet prediction. ![]() "THIS is what we mean when we say the word 'planet,' " Brown said.īrown and Batygin believe it's big - 10 times more massive than Earth - and unlike Pluto, dominates its cosmic neighbourhood. (Once Planet 9, Pluto is now officially considered a dwarf planet.) Brown ought to know he's the so-called Pluto killer who helped lead the charge against Pluto's planetary status in 2006. Once it's detected, Brown insists there will be no Pluto-style planetary debate. "For the first time in more than 150 years, there's good evidence that the planetary census of the solar system is incomplete," Batygin said, referring to Neptune's discovery as Planet 8. A planet with 10 times the mass of the Earth in a particular orbit (orange) is required to maintain this configuration, scientist say. Also, they all tilt nearly identically away from the plane of the solar system. The six most distant known objects in the solar system with orbits exclusively beyond Neptune (magenta) all mysteriously line up in a single direction. 23 at noon on CBC Radio Oneīrown and planetary scientist Konstantin Batygin feel certain about their prediction, which at first seemed unbelievable to even them. Mike Brown talks to Quirks & Quarks Jan.I want to understand where it is, and I think this will help." But I would rather somebody find it sooner, than me find it later," astronomer Mike Brown told The Associated Press. "We could have stayed quiet and quietly spent the next five years searching the skies ourselves and hoping to find it. The two reported on their research Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal because they want people to help them look for it. They base their findings on mathematical and computer modelling, and anticipate its discovery via telescope within five years or less. This Planet 9, as the two California Institute of Technology researchers call it, hasn't been spotted yet. For the first time in more than 150 years, there's good evidence that the planetary census of the solar system is incomplete. It's so distant that it would take a mind-blowing 10,000 to 20,000 years to circle the sun. The gas giant is thought to be almost as big as its nearest planetary neighbour Neptune, quite possibly with rings and moons. ![]() This one is 5,000 times bigger than outcast Pluto and billions of miles farther away, say scientists who presented "good evidence" for a long-hypothesized Planet X on Wednesday. The solar system may have a ninth planet after all. ![]()
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