Post by heatherly on Jan 16, 2015 17:16:47 GMT -5
"While some astronomers are looking for the existence of planets light years away from Earth, a team of Spanish researchers has suggested there could be at least two planets that have yet to be discovered in our very own Solar System.
According to a new report published by the team in the Monthly Notices Letters of the Royal Astronomical Society journal, these planets would be located in the Solar System’s extreme periphery – hundreds of times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
The new study it based on the study of objects located beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. According to generally-accepted calculations, these “extreme trans-Neptunian objects” (ETNO) should orbit the Sun at 150 astronomical units (AU), or 150 times the distance between the Earth and Sun, on about the same plane as the Solar System planets and an angle of perihelion, or closest point of the orbit to the Sun, very close to 0° or 180°.
However, observations of ETNOs have shown distances between 150 AU and 525 AU, an average inclination of about 20° and argument of perihelion of -31°, without appearing case close to 180°.
“This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution of the orbital elements of the ETNO and we consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto,” said study author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, an astronomer at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain).
“The exact number is uncertain, given that the data that we have is limited, but our calculations suggest that there are at least two planets, and probably more, within the confines of our solar system,” he added.
In their study, the Spanish team evaluated the effects of the ‘Kozai mechanism’, which is associated with the gravitational disruption that a large body puts on the orbit of another smaller and distant object.
The team noted that their findings run counter to prevailing models of the Solar System that put Neptune as the system’s most distant planetary body. They push back against this argument by citing the recent discovery of a planet-forming disk over 100 AU from the star HL Tauri and suggest that our Solar System could have bodies hundreds of Aus from the Sun.
The researchers also conceded that their findings are based on observations of 13 ETNOs, but said skeptics should momentarily reserve judgment as results set to be published in the coming months will make that sample size much larger.
“If it is confirmed, our results may be truly revolutionary for astronomy,” said de la Fuente Marcos.
Supporting the findings of the new study, two researchers discovered a dwarf planet last year in the Oort Cloud, an object-filled area of space just beyond the Solar System. Upon announcing the discovery, the astronomers said the movements of the dwarf planet, dubbed 2012 VP113, might be influenced by a massive, icy super-Earth."
Source: www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113315848/pluto-may-be-hiding-two-other-planets-scientists-say-011615/
According to a new report published by the team in the Monthly Notices Letters of the Royal Astronomical Society journal, these planets would be located in the Solar System’s extreme periphery – hundreds of times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
The new study it based on the study of objects located beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. According to generally-accepted calculations, these “extreme trans-Neptunian objects” (ETNO) should orbit the Sun at 150 astronomical units (AU), or 150 times the distance between the Earth and Sun, on about the same plane as the Solar System planets and an angle of perihelion, or closest point of the orbit to the Sun, very close to 0° or 180°.
However, observations of ETNOs have shown distances between 150 AU and 525 AU, an average inclination of about 20° and argument of perihelion of -31°, without appearing case close to 180°.
“This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution of the orbital elements of the ETNO and we consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto,” said study author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, an astronomer at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain).
“The exact number is uncertain, given that the data that we have is limited, but our calculations suggest that there are at least two planets, and probably more, within the confines of our solar system,” he added.
In their study, the Spanish team evaluated the effects of the ‘Kozai mechanism’, which is associated with the gravitational disruption that a large body puts on the orbit of another smaller and distant object.
The team noted that their findings run counter to prevailing models of the Solar System that put Neptune as the system’s most distant planetary body. They push back against this argument by citing the recent discovery of a planet-forming disk over 100 AU from the star HL Tauri and suggest that our Solar System could have bodies hundreds of Aus from the Sun.
The researchers also conceded that their findings are based on observations of 13 ETNOs, but said skeptics should momentarily reserve judgment as results set to be published in the coming months will make that sample size much larger.
“If it is confirmed, our results may be truly revolutionary for astronomy,” said de la Fuente Marcos.
Supporting the findings of the new study, two researchers discovered a dwarf planet last year in the Oort Cloud, an object-filled area of space just beyond the Solar System. Upon announcing the discovery, the astronomers said the movements of the dwarf planet, dubbed 2012 VP113, might be influenced by a massive, icy super-Earth."
Source: www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113315848/pluto-may-be-hiding-two-other-planets-scientists-say-011615/
creaking floors, you make me laugh,