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Facts pointing to the existence of Planet X are not an error due to lack of data.
This conclusion was made in a scientific paper published in the Astronomical Journal by Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin of the California Institute of Technology.
In addition, scientists have specified the estimated mass and orbit parameters of this mysterious world. This information is presented in another scientific paper published in the journal Physics Reports by a group of astronomers from the United States, including also Brown and Batygin.
In fact, it was these two astronomers who three years ago presented the hypothesis of the existence of Planet X (or, as it is also called, Planet 9).
The orbits of the outer bodies of the Solar System, including the hypothetical Planet X. Illustration by James Tuttle Keane / Caltech / Vesti translation. Science
Recall that the main argument in favor of this assumption is the strange trajectory of some objects in the Kuiper belt. This is a cluster of small ice bodies located beyond the orbit of Neptune.
What distorts the orbits of these ice blocks? The basic version is that this is the gravity of a large planet, Planet X itself. But maybe this is just a false result due to systematic errors in the data? After all, the objects of the Kuiper belt are small and dark, it is incredibly difficult to observe them. There is not enough data and therefore the probability of error is much higher.
To exclude this option, Brown and Batygin developed a rigorous method to estimate these errors by determining two key parameters: the pole of the orbit and the length of the perihelion. It is the deviations in these values that indicate the existence of Planet X. The result was optimistic: the probability that there is no planet, and the evidence of its existence is an error, is only 0.2%. This is a five hundred chance.
"While this analysis does not directly indicate whether Planet 9 exists, it shows that the hypothesis is based on a solid foundation," Brown concluded.
Comparative dimensions of the planets of the solar system, including the hypothetical Planet X. Illustration by James Tuttle Keane / Caltech / Vesti. Science
If this mysterious world exists, what can we say about it now? The answer to this question is given in the second article. This is a review that summarizes the results obtained in thousands of new computer models of the movement of bodies at the edges of the solar system.
Based on the data obtained, the authors conclude that planet X is five times as massive as Earth, and the half-largest axis of its orbit is 400 times greater than the distance from Earth to the Sun. One year lasts about ten thousand years.
Thus, according to new estimates, this celestial body was smaller, but closer to the light than previously thought. This latter fact increases the chances of seeing the "new" through a telescope once.
"My favorite feature of the Planet 9 hypothesis is that it is verifiable by observation," says Batygin. "The prospect of seeing the actual images of Planet 9 only flutters. Although it is very difficult to find Planet 9 astronomically (with a telescope – ed.), I hope we can discover it in the next decade. "
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