Astronomers have been searching for the ninth planet in the Solar System for many years. So far they have found mostly refutations of its presence, but proponents of the theory continue to insist that it is there. The Vera Rubin Observatory, which will begin operations in 2025, should put the end to this controversy.
Ninth planet
How many large planets are there in the Solar System? It’s now thought to be eight. However, scientists suggest that there may be another rather large body lurking far beyond Neptune’s orbit. And soon enough, the commissioning of the telescope at the Vera Rubin Observatory should put the end to this controversy.
The idea that there should be a ninth planet in the Solar System stretches back to the discovery of Neptune in 1856. Then scientists discovered two worlds in 70 years, although for 3,000 years before that, astronomers had been convinced that the Solar System ended beyond Saturn.
At that time, calculations showed that Uranus and Neptune were not enough to explain the motion of the planets in the Solar System. In 1930, they found Pluto and decided it was the ninth planet. However, this ice dwarf was too small to carry out the gravitational influence that is somehow felt in the motion of the planets.
Scientists started talking about the Tenth Planet, and in 2004 they discovered Sedna, an amazing world orbiting the Sun in a very comet-like orbit, but never getting close enough to our luminary.
But both Sedna and a large number of worlds proved too small to be called fully-fledged planets. Together they form the Kuiper belt, and soon scientists deprived Pluto of the title of planet, recognizing that it is also a component of it and belongs to a whole new class of dwarf planets.
The situation with the Ninth Planet became even more uncertain, because many believed that it was no longer needed, because the gravitational influence of the Kuiper Belt was quite enough. Especially since terrestrial and space telescopes have been improving all the time, but nothing big has ever been seen beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Brown and Batygin
In 2014, they found object 2012 VP113 in the Kuiper Belt, which had the same elongated orbit as Sedna, and later found that it was not the only one there. This prompted two American physicists, Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin, in 2016 to suggest that the orbits of these bodies are not an accident, but the result of the gravitational influence of the very Ninth Planet.
Scientists have calculated that there is only a 2% chance that the orbits gained this appearance by chance. Which means there should be a planet. Scientists have calculated that it should exceed the Earth in mass from 5 to 10 times, and in size – at least twice. In other words, it was about a large super Earth or a small giant.
If a ninth planet from the Sun did exist, it would be fifth in size. Brown and Batygin even calculated its possible orbit, which would have to be as elongated as Sedna’s. However, not all scientists share their confidence.
Some believe that the planet is really there. Others – that there is something there, but whether it is a body as described by Brown and Batygin are not sure. Many people answer the question about it with “I don’t know”. The rest of the astronomers say that the sample of 13 objects, on which the authors of the assumption rely in general, is artificial.
Final point
In the eight years since Brown and Batygin’s suggestion was made public, the Ninth Planet has never been found. However, this is not an argument for the authors of the theory and their supporters. The proposed world parameters assume that there are not many telescopes on Earth that are powerful enough to properly view all possible points in its orbit.
Brown and Batygin conducted one such search with the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) in Hawaii, and it showed that 78% of the Ninth Planet’s orbit they indicated was missing. The remaining 22% are so far from the Sun that the sensitivity of this instrument to reliably detect even such a large body is insufficient.
It would seem that this dispute can go on forever. But in the next few years, it should come to an end. The Vera Rubin Observatory telescope, which will be equipped with the world’s largest digital camera, is due to go into operation at the end of 2025. Even Brown and Batygin themselves are eagerly awaiting its verdict on the Ninth Planet.
They themselves, of course, hope that this instrument will find the Ninth Planet within the first few years of its operation. However, it is quite possible that this may not happen and then. Given its sensitivity, it would mean that the assumption was wrong.
But supporters of Brown and Batygin’s theory are not upset. They believe that even so, the telescope will be able to find new trans-Neptunian objects with strange orbits. Those, in turn, may suggest a new place where an unseen world may be lurking.
Provided by www.livescience.com
