A previously unknown Earth-like planet could be hiding at the edge of our solar system. A group of researchers published similar observations behind the planet Neptune – the planet farthest from the sun – in “The Astronomical Journal”.
The scientists had looked at objects in the Kuiper Belt, a collection of so-called dwarf planets such as Pluto and Eris. It is also said that there are many comets and little-explored so-called Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) here. One of them, called Sedna, is composed largely of ice and is reddish in color. It was discovered in 2003 and was already a planet candidate.
But now the researchers led by astronomer Patryk Sofia Lykawka made a new observation. Its orbit, like those of other celestial bodies in its vicinity, can only be explained by the presence of an Earth-sized planet.
The basis for this is formed by computer simulations of different gravitational forces in the solar system. An Earth-like planet – which so far only exists as a theory – would explain the observed anomalies, the researchers said in their article. It would be up to three times larger than Earth and about 500 times further away from the sun than Earth.
“We predict the existence of an Earth-like planet and several TNOs in special orbits in the outer solar system,” write authors Patryk Sofia Lykawka of Kindai University in Japan and Takashi Ito of the National Astronomical Observatory in Japan. “The results of the Kuiper Belt planetary scenario support the existence of a yet undiscovered planet in the outer solar system. [und] also predict the existence of new discoveries from TNO.”
If the prediction were to come true, there would not only be a ninth planet in our solar system. The scientists say the definition of what a planet actually is also needs to be reconsidered. But no one has seen the supposed planet yet. The Japanese are now calling on the scientific community to test their theory. If TNOs were found at a distance of 150 Sun-Earth longitudes, that would be confirmation.
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Source: Blick
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