For a century, scientists have been confused by Uranus and Neptune’s orbits. There has been a long held belief that a 9th, undiscovered planet may be influencing their orbit. Now, we have some proof that explains the planet’s odd behaviour
It looks like very soon, Earth’s solar system may go back to having 9 planets, and no, we are not saying that Pluto will be included in our Solar System.
For more than a hundred years, scientists have been perplexed by peculiar gravitational forces that appear to be influencing the orbits of Neptune and Uranus in the outermost parts of our solar system.
Planet X’s influence on Uranus and Neptune
While some individuals have proposed that an undiscovered ninth planet, often referred to as “Planet X,” could elucidate this unusual behaviour, others have challenged these hypotheses.
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However, a team of international researchers has now put forward a fresh explanation: instead of being located in the Kuiper Belt, this planet-sized entity could be concealed within the Oort cloud. The Oort cloud is a spherical region encircling the solar system, believed to contain a collection of icy objects that extend several times farther from the Sun than the Kuiper Belt.
How Planet X was formed
In an upcoming publication of the journal MNRAS Letters, the research team proposes a fascinating concept. They suggest that numerous larger fragments of debris may have coalesced over billions of years to form a planet-sized object. This object could have been propelled into the Oort cloud, a result that is feasible and highly plausible, according to the researchers.
Alternatively, the team puts forth another intriguing possibility: an exoplanet originating from a different star system may have become ensnared within the solar system’s Oort cloud. The researchers consider this to be the more probable scenario.
The paper explains, “Dynamical instabilities among giant planets are believed to be widespread, leading to the expulsion of one or more planets into the depths of interstellar space. However, we discover that instead of being completely ejected, a portion of these planets become trapped in exceedingly wide orbits resembling those of comets within the Oort cloud.”
Holes punched in the theory
However, the scientists themselves acknowledge that both of these theories are not highly probable. They estimate that there is only a 0.5 per cent likelihood that the Sun could have expelled a planet into the Oort cloud, and a seven per cent chance that it could have captured a planet similar in size to Neptune after it was ejected from its original star system.
Nonetheless, this captivating theory is sure to attract close scrutiny. Could there be additional planets concealed in the shadows, mingling with icy comets? As noted by NASA, no mission has been dispatched thus far to explore the Oort cloud. However, there remains a possibility that Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 may eventually venture there for a fascinating encounter.
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