Scientists have debated the existence of the new planet since it was first introduced several years ago, but a new study has determined the orbit of the supposed celestial object.
Caltech researchers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin have traced the orbital path of the mystical planet, which has yet to be discovered.
In a blog post, Brown detailed that the “highest probability” of the location of the planet New is near aphelion (the point where it is farthest from the sun) around 60 degrees in straight ascension, “quite close to the galactic plane.”
A new study has mapped the orbit of the planet New, tracing its path around the sun
The researchers placed the “highest probability” of the location of the new planet (yellow orbit) near the aphelion, around 60 degrees in straight ascent, “quite close to the galactic plane.” If it were at the average distance from the aphelion, the planet Nou would be approximately 46.5 billion kilometers from the sun
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If, in fact, the New Planet were at the average distance from the aphelion at that time, it would be about 500 astronomical units (AU), or about 46.5 billion kilometers from the sun.
When plotting the entire sky, astronomers go from 360 to 0 in Straight Ascension.
The aphelion is indicated by the red area in the following image.
If in fact the New Planet were at the average distance from the aphelion at that time, it would be about 500 astronomical units (AU), or about 46.5 billion kilometers from the sun. The aphelion is indicated by the red area in the image above
One AU equals approximately 93 million miles.
“Using samples of the orbital elements and estimates of the radius and albedo of such a planet, we calculate the probability distribution function of the position of the New Planet in the sky and its brightness,” the researchers wrote in the study .
“For many reasonable assumptions, the new planet is closer and brighter than initially expected, although the probability distribution includes a long tail at greater distances and uncertainties in the radius and albedo of the new planet could produce weaker objects “.
Brown and Batygin created the map by looking at some of the known objects in the Kuiper Belt – icy bodies passing through Neptune – many of which have strange orbits that researchers believe may be affected by the New Planet.
The researchers used the grouping of objects in the Kuiper belt as a sign that the New Planet exists, as it would be unusual for this to occur naturally.
“After updating the observational bias calculations, we found that clustering remains significant at the 99.6% confidence level,” the study authors wrote, meaning that there is only 0.4 percent chance of grouping being a weird, weird occurrence.
More than 2,000 objects have been identified in the Kuiper belt, but there could be “hundreds of thousands” more in the region, according to NASA.
They used the grouping of 11 of the known (green dots) objects from the Kuiper belt and found that there is only a 0.4% chance that the grouping is a strange occurrence.
The researchers also estimated that the planet New Earth has a mass 6.2 times that of Earth and a periphery (the point where it is closest to the sun) of about 300 AU. Its inclination, how much it inclines in comparison with the plane of the solar system, is around 16 degrees
In their analysis, they calculate that the New planet has a mass 6.2 times that of Earth and a periphery (the point where it is closest to the sun) around 300 AU.
It also has an inclination (how much it inclines compared to the plane of the solar system) of about 16 degrees.
In contrast, the Earth has an inclination of 0 degrees, while Pluto’s inclination is 17 degrees, according to EarthSky.org.
The study has been accepted into the Astronomical Journal and a pre-release version is available on arXiv.
The New Planet and its existence have been controversial, and many other researchers claim it does not exist.
In February, a group of researchers claimed that unusual orbits in the Kuiper belt may be an illusion.
In January 2019, a separate study also said that the unusual orbits of Kuiper belt objects could be due to a wide disk of small icy objects impacting the orbits of the objects.
Others have suggested that the object is a mirage or may be a black hole the size of a grapefruit.
By contrast, some other scientists have sided with Brown and Batygin, suggesting that the mystical planet is real and could be found in the next decade or so with higher-powered telescopes.
Researchers have already found an exoplanet that has similar properties to the New Planet, 336 light-years from Earth, HD106906 b, which was identified by the Hubble Space Telescope.
In 2017, NASA released a statement stating that the New Planet could be 20 times the distance from the sun that Neptune has, adding a comment from Batygin who said that “it is now harder to imagine our solar system without a New Planet that with a “.
In 2019, researchers published a study that suggested that NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey had already found the new planet.
NEW PLANET: BRITCHES OF OBJECTS BEYOND NEPTUNE “SOME GREAT” HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED
Astronomers believe that the orbits of a number of bodies located at a distance from the solar system have been altered by the attraction of an as yet unidentified planet.
First proposed by a CalTech group in the US, this alien world was theorized to explain the distorted paths seen in distant icy bodies.
To adapt to the data they have, this alien world, popularly called the New Planet, would have to be about four times larger than Earth and ten times larger than mass.
Researchers say a body of this size and mass would explain the clustered paths of a number of smaller icy planets beyond Neptune.
First proposed by a CalTech group in the US, this alien world was theorized to explain the distorted paths seen in distant icy bodies.
Its huge orbit would mean that it takes between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make a single step around the sun.
The theoretical New Planet is based on the gravitational pull it exerts on these bodies, with confident astronomers to be found in the coming years.
Those waiting for theoretical planets the size of Earth proposed by astrologers or science fiction writers, who are “hidden behind the sun” and related to Doomsday scenarios, may have to keep looking.