Planet X could be making the solar system WOBBLE:
Sun's strange tilt may be caused by mysterious world's orbit.
Source Mail Online.
The mystery of whether there is an undiscovered planet at the edge of our solar system is one that has gripped the imagination of astronomers since the start of this year.
Dubbed 'Planet Nine' by some, the world was predicted by two Caltech astronomers in January, and since then scientists have been trying to find evidence for and against its existence.
Now the latest of these claims is that the ninth planet appears to be responsible for the unusual tilt of the sun.
Dubbed 'Planet Nine' by some, the world was predicted by two Caltech astronomers in January. Now the latest of these claims is that planet nine appears to be responsible for the unusual tilt of the sun (pictured), according to a new study
The planet may be adding a wobble to the solar system, making it appear the sun is tilted slightly.
'Because Planet Nine is so massive and has an orbit tilted compared to the other planets, the solar system has no choice but to slowly twist out of alignment,' said Elizabeth Bailey, a graduate student at Caltech and lead author of the study announcing the discovery.
All of the planets orbit in a flat plane with respect to the sun, roughly within a couple degrees of each other. That plane, however, rotates at a six-degree tilt with respect to the sun, giving the appearance the sun itself is cocked off at an angle. Until now, no one had found a compelling explanation to produce such an effect.
'It's such a deep-rooted mystery and so difficult to explain that people just don't talk about it,' said Professor Mike Brown, one of the pair who published the initial paper suggesting Planet Nine's existence. Professor Brown and Konstantin Batygin used mathematical modelling and computer simulations to find the planet would exactly explain a strange clumping behaviour of a group of dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune.
PLANET NINE Even the mysterious planet's name causes controversy. Mike Brown is Professor of Planetary Astronomy at Caltech. He is best known for his discovery of Eris, the most massive object found in the solar system in 150 years, and the object which led to the debate and eventual demotion of Pluto from a real planet to a dwarf planet. Alan Stern is an engineer and planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of NASAs New Horizons mission to Pluto.
He is famously a defender of Pluto's planet title, which was stripped from it in 2006. The two scientists are 'at loggerheads' with each other over the classification of Pluto, according to some astronomers. The mysterious planet has always been termed 'Planet X', X being the Roman numeral for ten, suggesting a tenth planet.
But when Professor Brown and his team published the paper in January, they controversially named the planet 'Planet Nine' instead of Planet X, as a nod to Professor Brown's work towards declassifying Pluto. 'Calling it Planet Nine is very mischievous,' Professor Monica Grady told MailOnline
Sun's strange tilt may be caused by mysterious world's orbit.
Source Mail Online.
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| Planet X |
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| Artists impression |
All of the planets orbit in a flat plane with respect to the sun, roughly within a couple degrees of each other. That plane, however, rotates at a six-degree tilt with respect to the sun, giving the appearance the sun itself is cocked off at an angle. Until now, no one had found a compelling explanation to produce such an effect.
'It's such a deep-rooted mystery and so difficult to explain that people just don't talk about it,' said Professor Mike Brown, one of the pair who published the initial paper suggesting Planet Nine's existence. Professor Brown and Konstantin Batygin used mathematical modelling and computer simulations to find the planet would exactly explain a strange clumping behaviour of a group of dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune.
PLANET NINE Even the mysterious planet's name causes controversy. Mike Brown is Professor of Planetary Astronomy at Caltech. He is best known for his discovery of Eris, the most massive object found in the solar system in 150 years, and the object which led to the debate and eventual demotion of Pluto from a real planet to a dwarf planet. Alan Stern is an engineer and planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of NASAs New Horizons mission to Pluto.
He is famously a defender of Pluto's planet title, which was stripped from it in 2006. The two scientists are 'at loggerheads' with each other over the classification of Pluto, according to some astronomers. The mysterious planet has always been termed 'Planet X', X being the Roman numeral for ten, suggesting a tenth planet.
But when Professor Brown and his team published the paper in January, they controversially named the planet 'Planet Nine' instead of Planet X, as a nod to Professor Brown's work towards declassifying Pluto. 'Calling it Planet Nine is very mischievous,' Professor Monica Grady told MailOnline
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