Science & Technology

Astronomers Say A New Planet May Be Hiding

The solar system appears to have a new ninth planet. After kicking out Pluto from the planet group on a basis of its small size, a bigger planet has been predicted to exist beyond the ex-planet. Two scientists recently announced that they had evidence of a hitherto unseen celestial body approximately the size of Neptune which completes one orbit of the sun every 15 millennia. During the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, the giant planet is believed to have been knocked out of the area near the sun. Its projector into outer space was slowed down by gas and the planet finally settled at a distant elliptical path far away from the sun.

The claim of Brown and Batygin, the scientists who proposed the idea, is the strongest so far in the search for a planet beyond Neptune, often mentioned as “Planet X”. The newest quest has been plagued by outright quackery and far-fetched. But since the evidence comes from of Brown and Batygin who are obviously a pair of respectable planetary scientists, other scientists express cautious excitement over the proposed result. Many members of the scientific committee says that they cannot imagine a bigger deal if the prediction turns out to be right.

If Planet X is really out there, astronomers should be able to find objects in otherwise non-existing orbits that have been shaped by the gravitational pull of the hidden planet. Both scientists concede that there is nothing to prove the hypothesis and no one will really be able to believe in Planet X until we can see it from a telescope. Their team has been allowed access time to a large telescope situated in Hawaii which has been deemed suitable for the search. Brown and Batygin hope that the recent paper they published will encourage other astronomers to join the hunt.

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