By SAVANNAH TILLMAN
Student Reporter
Evidence of a ‘ninth’ planet in our solar system was revealed last Wednesday.
The two scientists who “Killed Pluto” have discovered evidence that our solar system might possibly have yet another planet. Mike Brown and Konstatin Batygin, of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA, state that Planet Nine has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun than Neptune. It would take about 10,000 to 20,000 years to make one full orbit around the sun compared to Earth’s 365 days.
The evidence was discovered through mathematical modeling and computer simulations. They discovered an object roaming beyond Neptune with a strange elliptical orbit. Scientists have also discovered other orbital patterns, like Sedna, prior to the evidence of Planet Nine’s existence. These two patterns follow different oval shaped orbits than our solar system. The gravitational pull that our eight planets follow is part of the Kuiper belt.
According to Caltech.edu, observers have noticed four objects tracing orbits in a perpendicular line with Neptune. It would be like having a watch with six hands on it, going around in different speeds and then all of a sudden you look and they are all aligned.
Scientists have yet to confirm that Planet Nine is in fact a planet, but evidence is leaning toward that way. Jennifer Sattler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physics at Northwestern says, “There are three criteria for a mass to be a planet. They must: orbit around the sun, nearly be a round shape, and have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.”
With the rise of newer and better technology, scientists are closer than ever to proving that there is more out there then what we know. The use of telescopes has been used to help aid scientific research and has been quite useful. “Science is constantly being revised.” according to Dr. Steven Meier, Professor of Physics at Northwestern. “It’s always changing.”
Scientists have yet to be able to study the planet directly. Brown and Batygin have shared their information in hope that other scientists can help confirm Planet Nine. Brown feels that if something is that massive in our solar system, it deserves to be considered a planet.