Solar system. The ninth planet of the solar system: evidence from scientists A new planet in the solar system has been discovered

Remember all sorts of conspiracy theories about, but it turns out that another planet still exists. Well, at least with a probability of 99.993.

And here's how it happened.

Astronomers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena reported the discovery of an object the size of Neptune, which is 10 times heavier than the Earth, outside the orbit of Pluto. The authors published the results of the search for Planet X in The Astronomical Journal, and Science News briefly talks about them.

The planet revolves around the Sun in an elongated orbit (and in a plane inclined relative to the Earth's orbit) with a period of 15 thousand years. Her chemical composition similar to those of the gas giants Uranus and Neptune. According to Brown and Batygin, the object was knocked out of the protoplanetary disk near the Sun 4.5 billion years ago.

The nearest distance between the Sun and the detected object is 200 astronomical units (this is seven times the distance between Neptune and the star). The maximum removal of Planet X is estimated at 600-1200 astronomical units, which brings its orbit beyond the Kuiper belt, in which Pluto is located.

The referent of the work of scientists in The Astronomical Journal was the planetary scientist Michael Brown, who, together with colleagues in 2003, discovered the dwarf planet Sedna, which makes a full revolution around the Sun in 11.4 thousand years. The specialist was optimistic about the chances of the discovery of Planet X by Brown and Batygin.

Scientists have discovered a new planet by analyzing data on the gravitational perturbation it exerts on other celestial bodies. As Brown and Batygin note, astronomers will believe in their discovery when they can observe the planet through a telescope. To do this, they reserved time at the Japanese Subaru Observatory in Hawaii.

Confirmation of the existence of a celestial body will take five years. If discovered, the object could become the ninth planet solar system. The error probability Brown and Batygin estimate at 0.007 percent. Earlier searches for Planet X in the solar system led scientists to discover Neptune (in 1864) and Pluto (in 1930).

Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin, Photo by Popular Science

But back in 2012, according to the calculations of an astronomer from Brazil, there is a rather large space object beyond the orbit of Neptune, which can be recognized as the ninth planet.

With such an assumption, an astronomer from the National Observatory of Brazil Rodney da Silva Gomes made. He drew attention to the deviation from the given calculations of the orbits of six Kuiper belt objects, among which the contender for the title of a dwarf planet is Sedna.

According to him, there are several explanations for the unusual behavior of some objects in the belt. The simplest is the existence of a large body, a planet that changes their orbits with its gravity.

"All the most distant objects move in the same direction on an inexplicable trajectory, and we realized that the only explanation for this is the existence of a large, distant planet that holds them together as they orbit the Sun," Brown said.

Planet X

The idea of ​​the existence of the so-called Planet X, located on the periphery of the solar system, has been discussed in scientific circles for more than 100 years. She is remembered and then forgotten.

The current speculation is of particular interest because of the study's lead author.

Brown specializes in finding distant objects, and it was his discovery of the dwarf planet Eris in the Kuiper Belt in 2005 that caused Pluto to lose planetary status a year later.

Then it was assumed that Eris is slightly larger than Pluto, but now it has become clear that it is slightly smaller than it.

Researchers studying distant objects in the solar system have been speculating for some time on the possibility of a planet the size of Mars or Earth due to the size and shape of the planets in the Kuiper Belt. But until you can see the planet through a telescope, the idea of ​​​​its existence will be perceived with skepticism.

The study by Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin was published in the Astronomical Journal.

In January 2016, scientists announced that there might be another planet in the solar system. Many astronomers are looking for it, studies so far lead to ambiguous conclusions. Nevertheless, the discoverers of Planet X are confident in its existence. talks about the latest results of work in this direction.

On the possible detection of Planet X beyond the orbit of Pluto, astronomers and Konstantin Batygin from the California Institute of Technology (USA). The ninth planet of the solar system, if it exists, is about 10 times heavier than the Earth, and in its properties resembles Neptune, a gas giant, the most distant known planet revolving around our star.

According to the authors, the period of revolution of Planet X around the Sun is 15 thousand years, its orbit is highly elongated and inclined relative to the plane of the earth's orbit. The maximum distance from the Sun of Planet X is estimated at 600-1200 astronomical units, which brings its orbit beyond the Kuiper belt, in which Pluto is located. The origin of Planet X is unknown, but Brown and Batygin believe that this cosmic object was knocked out of a protoplanetary disk near the Sun 4.5 billion years ago.

Astronomers discovered this planet theoretically by analyzing the gravitational perturbation it exerts on other celestial bodies in the Kuiper belt - the trajectories of six large trans-Neptunian objects (that is, located beyond the orbit of Neptune) turned out to be combined into one cluster (with similar perihelion arguments, ascending node longitude and inclination). Brown and Batygin initially estimated the probability of error in their calculations at 0.007 percent.

Where exactly is Planet X - it is not known what part of the celestial sphere should be tracked by telescopes - it is not clear. Heavenly body located so far from the Sun that you can see its radiation modern means extremely difficult. And the evidence for the existence of Planet X, based on its gravitational influence on celestial bodies in the Kuiper belt, is only circumstantial.

Video: caltech / YouTube

In June 2017, astronomers from Canada, the UK, Taiwan, Slovakia, the US, and France searched for Planet X using the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) catalog of trans-Neptunian objects. The elements of the orbit of eight trans-Neptunian objects were studied, the movement of which Planet X would have to influence - the objects would be grouped in a certain way (clustered) according to their inclinations. Among the eight objects, four are considered for the first time, all of them are more than 250 astronomical units away from the Sun. It turned out that the parameters of one object, 2015 GT50, do not fit into the clustering, which cast doubt on the existence of Planet X.

However, the discoverers of Planet X believe that the 2015 GT50 does not contradict their calculations. As Batygin noted, numerical modeling of the dynamics of the solar system, including Planet X, shows that outside the semi-major axis of 250 astronomical units, there should be two clusters of celestial bodies whose orbits are aligned by Planet X: one is stable, the second is metastable. Although the 2015 GT50 object is not included in any of these clusters, it is still reproduced by the simulation.

Batygin believes that there may be several such objects. Probably, the position of the minor semiaxis of Planet X is connected with them. The astronomer emphasizes that since the publication of data on Planet X, not six, but 13 trans-Neptunian objects indicate its existence, of which 10 celestial bodies belong to a stable cluster.

While some astronomers doubt Planet X, others are finding new evidence in its favor. Spanish scientists Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos investigated the parameters of the orbits of comets and asteroids in the Kuiper belt. The detected anomalies in the movement of objects (correlations between the longitude of the ascending node and inclination) are easily explained, according to the authors, by the presence of a massive body in the solar system, the semi-major axis of the orbit of which is 300-400 astronomical units.

Moreover, in the solar system there may be not nine, but ten planets. Recently, astronomers from the University of Arizona (USA) discovered another celestial body in the Kuiper belt, with dimensions and mass close to Mars. Calculations show that the hypothetical tenth planet is at a distance of 50 astronomical units from the star, and its orbit is inclined to the ecliptic plane by eight degrees. The celestial body perturbs known objects from the Kuiper belt and, most likely, was closer to the Sun in ancient times. Experts note that the observed effects are not explained by the influence of Planet X, located much further than the "second Mars".

Currently, about two thousand trans-Neptunian objects are known. With the introduction of new observatories, in particular LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) and JWST (James Webb Space Telescope), scientists plan to bring the number of known objects in the Kuiper belt and beyond to 40,000. This will allow not only to determine the exact parameters of the trajectories of trans-Neptunian objects and, as a result, indirectly prove (or disprove) the existence of Planet X and the “second Mars”, but also directly detect them.

In 2006, Pluto was stripped of its status as the ninth planet in the solar system thanks to the efforts of one astronomer, Michael Brown. Together with his colleagues, he discovered, and then other dwarf planets far beyond the orbit of Neptune. Thus, he proved that Pluto is not remarkable and big enough to be called a full-fledged planet. However, now Brown and our compatriot Konstantin Batygin are claiming that the new Planet 9 is already almost open ... and that all that remains is to see it.

Yes, yes, no one has yet seen the “almost open” ninth planet of the solar system! In fact, its discovery is the fruit of long observations of the orbits of other planets. According to Kepler and Newton, the place of each planet in the solar system is determined by its characteristics, mainly by mass. And if the orbit does not correspond to the parameters of the planet or is generally anomalous, then it is influenced by some other, no less massive object. The first planet discovered by mathematical equations, and not live observations, was - in 1846 it was found at a place calculated by the French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier.

Moreover, the planets can influence each other very actively - in the past of the solar system they traveled hundreds of millions of kilometers, approaching and moving away from the Sun. The gas giants were especially distinguished here. In young planetary systems, they absorb all the embryos of the planets and hang close to the star - as close as Mercury. Because of this, they become very hot and become unstable. Scientists call such planets "hot Jupiters" or "hot Neptunes" - depending on their mass and size.

Troubled History of the Solar System

However, Jupiter, the largest and most influential planet, changed everything in the solar system. Initially appearing at a distance of 5 to 10 from the Sun, it provoked active collisions of scattered material in the protoplanetary disk around the star. This gave impetus to the creation of other gas giants, such as Saturn or Neptune, at distances equally close to the Sun.

However, the newly formed planets behaved "ungratefully", following the laws of gravity - they pushed their "parent" closer to the Sun, into the modern orbit of Mars. Thus, Jupiter invaded the inner part of the solar system. In other planetary systems, this part is the most saturated with matter and space objects. But the heavy tread of the mass of Jupiter scattered the embryos of planets and asteroids there, throwing them into the nuclear furnace of the Sun or throwing them to the outskirts of the system in the zone of modern and.

If not for Saturn, which connected Jupiter with an orbital resonance and did not bring it into a modern orbit, the gas giant could completely ruin the solar system, throwing out 99% of the planetary matter from it. However, his travels did not go unnoticed - so Neptune and Uranus changed their orbits, forming most of the long-period comets.

Ultimately, an unusual balance reigned in the solar planetary system - gas giants that form near the star ended up on the outskirts, and "solid planets" like the Earth migrated closer to the Sun. However, some astronomers believed that another planet was needed to achieve such a balance - and one massive enough to influence the large Neptune and Uranus. It, Planet X, was searched for by many astronomers for a century and a half - and it seems that Brown and Batygin finally got close to it.

History of the search for planet X

After Le Verrier calculated Neptune from perturbations in Uranus's orbit, astronomers found that even its presence did not explain the features of the ice giant's orbit. For some time they tried to find another planet that could influence the last large objects of the solar system - however, they managed to find only Pluto, which, by mass and direction of the orbit, could not disturb larger bodies in any way. The issue of Uranus-Neptune anomalies was finally resolved by "", who measured the mass of Neptune in 1989 and thereby found that there are no contradictions in the orbits.

By that time, the power of telescopes had grown significantly, which allowed astronomers to look into the depths of the solar system. Many trans-Neptunian objects have been discovered - dwarf planets and large asteroids, whose closest orbital point is further from the Sun than Neptune. So, in 2005, the already mentioned Eris was discovered, the second largest dwarf planet after Pluto. And in 2003 they found an object with diameters over 2 thousand kilometers, which moves away from the Sun at a distance of 1.4 × 10 11 km - further than any large trans-Neptunian object! It soon acquired a whole family of "sednoids", isolated trans-Neptunian objects with similar characteristics.

The ninth planet - where and why?

Observing the newly discovered planetoids, astronomers C. Trujillo and S. Sheppard, colleagues, discovered an interesting pattern. Most of them have elongated, comet-like orbits that briefly come "close" to the Sun, at a distance of 40 to 70 astronomical units, and then move away for hundreds or even thousands of years. And the larger the object, the stronger its removal. In addition, the sednoids deviated from the Sun in the same direction.

Such a coincidence could be an accident, if we are talking about simple comets - over the billions of years of the history of the solar system, they were scattered by everyone major planets, especially the already mentioned "travelers" Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. However, for such a coincidence in the deviations of large objects, a very large planet is needed, whose orbit would reach the Oort cloud.

Here Brown and Batygin distinguished themselves - by comparing the orbital characteristics of sednoids, they found mathematically that the probability of their random coincidence is only 0.007%. Scientists went further and compiled a computer model aimed at finding the characteristics of the planet, capable of changing the orbits of bodies located beyond Neptune. The data they received in January 2016 became the basis for the announcement of the pre-discovery of a new planet in the solar system.

Characteristics of Planet X

In his interviews, Brown claims that the probability of finding a new planet is 90%. However, until it is actually discovered, with the help of a telescope, it is too early to talk about the final discovery. Nevertheless, the calculated characteristics of Planet 9 have been published - they will be used in future searches.

• The orbital parameters of Planet X will be mirrored to those of the sednoids - the planet's orbit will still be elongated and inclined relative to the plane of the main planets of the solar system, but directed in the opposite direction. Accordingly, the perihelion of the planet - the point of maximum approach to the Sun - will be 200 astronomical units at the nearest point, and the aphelion - the maximum distance - will reach 1200 astronomical units. This is even more than Sedna! A year on Planet 9 will last up to 20,000 Earth years, which is how long it may take to complete the entire orbit.

A planet distant from the Sun is difficult to detect - this requires telescopes operating in the infrared spectrum, or powerful optical devices that can capture even the smallest sun glare on the surface. On infrared telescopes, work will move faster, but errors are possible - and on optical telescopes, the result will be reliable, albeit at the cost of time. The WISE Infrared Orbiting Telescope, which conducted broadband surveys in 2009, has yet to detect Planet X, although it has provided fairly detailed images.

Therefore, Brown, Batygin and other astronomers plan to find it using the Subaru telescop in the Hawaiian Islands, which is considered one of the largest and highest quality in the world - the diameter of its main mirror exceeds 8 meters! In addition, it is capable of operating both in the optical and in the infrared ranges of light. But even with such a tool, it will take scientists at least 5 years to put an end to the issue of Planet X.

About 30 human-made spacecraft in our solar system are currently collecting information about our planet and its environs. Every year evidence is collected that supports some theories while pushing others to the sidelines. Before you are several interesting facts, which we managed to learn about our solar system in 2016.

Jupiter and Saturn throw comets at us

In 1994, the entire world watched as comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter and "left an Earth-sized trail that lasted for a year." Then the astronomers happily talked that Jupiter protects us from comets and asteroids.

Thanks to its massive gravitational field, Jupiter was thought to pull in most of these threats before they reach Earth. But a recent study showed that the exact opposite may be true, and this whole "Jupiter shield" idea is not true.

Simulations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena have shown that Jupiter and Saturn are likely to toss space debris into the inner solar system and into orbits that put them in the path of Earth. It turns out that the giant planets are bombarding us with comets and asteroids.

The good news is that the comets that bombarded the Earth during its developmental stages may have "carried in volatiles from the outer solar system necessary for the formation of life."

Pluto has liquid water

On the outskirts of the known solar system spacecraft NASA's New Horizons reveals strange things about the distant dwarf planet Pluto. First of all, it is interesting that Pluto has a liquid ocean.

The presence of fracture lines and analysis of a large crater called Sputnik Planum led the researchers to a model that shows Pluto has a 100-kilometer-thick liquid ocean with a 30% salt content beneath a 300-kilometer-thick shell of ice. It is about as salty as the Dead Sea.

If Pluto's ocean were in the process of freezing, then the planet would have to contract. But it looks like it's expanding. Scientists suspect that there is enough radioactivity left in the core to provide at least some heat. The thick layers of exotic surface ice act as an insulator, and probably the presence of ammonia acts as an antifreeze.

The cores of Neptune and Uranus are wrapped in plastic

How do you know what lies beneath the clouds of distant gas giants, where the atmospheric pressure is nine million times higher than on Earth? Maths! Scientists used the USPEX algorithm to provide a possible picture of what is happening under the clouds of these poorly understood planets.

Knowing that Neptune and Uranus are made up primarily of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, scientists plugged in calculations to determine the strange chemical processes that may flow there. The result is exotic polymers, organic plastics, crystalline carbonic acid and orthocarbonic acid (aka "Hitler's acid" because its atomic structure resembles a swastika) wrapped around a solid inner core.

While searching for extraterrestrial life on Titan and Europa, scientists hope that water may have reacted with rocks in organic processes. But if the inner core is wrapped in exotic crystals and plastics, some things will have to be reconsidered.

Mercury has a huge Grand Canyon

If there was volcanic activity on Venus and Mars even a few million years ago, it looks like baby Mercury calmed down 3-4 billion years ago. The planet cooled down, began to shrink and crack.

In the process, a massive crack appeared, which scientists call the "big valley." According to University of Maryland scientists:

“The valley is 400 kilometers wide and 965 kilometers long, with steep slopes that penetrate 3 kilometers below the surrounding terrain. For comparison, if the "big valley" of Mercury existed on Earth, it would be twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and stretch from Washington to New York and Detroit far to the west."

On a tiny planet with a circumference of only 4,800 kilometers, such a large valley looks more like a terrible scar on the face.

Venus was once habitable

Venus - the only planet that rotates backwards. At 460 degrees Celsius, its surface is hot enough to melt lead, and the planet itself is shrouded in clouds of sulfuric acid. But one day, Venus may have been able to support life.

More than four billion years ago, Venus had oceans. In fact, it is believed that there has been water on the planet for over two billion years. Today, Venus is very dry and has no water vapor at all. The Sun's solar wind blew it all away.

The atmosphere of Venus gives off a large electric field five times stronger than the earth's. This field is also strong enough to overcome the gravity of Venus and push hydrogen and oxygen into the upper atmosphere, where the solar winds blow them away.

Scientists don't know why Venus's electric field is so strong, but it could be because Venus is closer to the Sun.

The earth is fueled by the moon

The Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that protects us from charged particles and harmful radiation. If not for it, we would be exposed to cosmic rays 1000 times stronger than those that are now. Our computers and electronics would fry instantly. Therefore, it is great that a giant ball of molten iron is spinning in the center of our planet. Until recently, scientists weren't sure why it kept spinning. Eventually, it should cool down and slow down.

But over the past 4.3 billion years, it has cooled by only 300 degrees Celsius. Thus, we lost quite a bit of heat, which did not play a special role for magnetic field. Scientists now believe that the Moon's orbit is supporting Earth's hot core as it rotates, injecting about 1,000 billion watts of energy into the core. The moon may be more important to us than we thought.

The rings of Saturn are new

Since the 1600s, there has been debate about how many Saturn's rings exist and where they came from. In theory, Saturn once had more moons and some of them collided with each other. As a result, a cloud of debris appeared, which decomposed into rings and 62 satellites.

By watching Saturn squeezing geysers out of Enceladus, scientists were able to estimate the relative strength of the gas giant's tug. Since all the satellites were thrown into longer orbits, this allowed scientists to roughly estimate when the cabal among the moons occurred.

The numbers showed that Saturn's rings had nothing to do with the formation of the planet four billion years ago. In fact, with the exception of the more distant moons of Titan and Iapetus, Saturn's large moons appear to have formed during the Cretaceous period, the age of the dinosaurs.

There are 15,000 very large asteroids in our vicinity.

In 2005, NASA was tasked with finding 90% of large objects in near-Earth space by 2020. So far, the agency has found 90% of objects that are 915 meters or larger, but only 25% are 140 meters or larger.

In 2016, with 30 new discoveries per week, NASA discovered its 15,000 objects. For reference: in 1998, the agency found only 30 new objects per year. NASA catalogs all the comets and asteroids around to make sure we know when something is about to hit us. However, meteors sometimes erupt without warning, like the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk in 2013.

We deliberately crashed the device on a comet

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two years. The device collected data and even placed the lander on the surface, although not entirely successfully.

This 12-year mission has led to a number of important discoveries. For example, Rosetta discovered the amino acid glycine, the basic building block of life. Although it has long been assumed that amino acids could have formed in space at the dawn of the solar system, they were only discovered thanks to Rosetta.

Rosetta found 60 molecules, 34 of which had never been found on a comet before. The spacecraft's instruments also showed a significant difference in the composition of the comet's water and Earth's water. It turns out that it is unlikely that water on Earth appeared due to comets.

After a successful mission, the ESA crashed the craft into a comet.

Mysteries of the Sun solved

All planets and stars have magnetic fields that change over time. On Earth, these fields turn over every 200,000-300,000 years. But now they are late.

Everything happens faster in the Sun. Every 11 years or so, the polarity of the Sun's magnetic field reverses. This is accompanied by a period of increased solar activity and sunspots.

Oddly enough, Venus, Earth and Jupiter align at this time. Scientists believe that these planets can influence the Sun. As the planets align, their gravity combines to cause a tidal effect on the sun's plasma, pulling it in and disrupting the sun's magnetic field, the study found.