Brilio.net/en - 2016 might be the year for space lovers. Our beloved icy Pluto, which status as a planet fell into reclassification following the discovery of objects in similar size in the Kuiper belt (ring of Trans-Neptunian objects), might have a replacement.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found a clue that that points to an object that might possibly be the next ninth planet in our solar system. If its confirmed, we will have another planet in our Milky Way.
As reported by CNN, nicknamed the Planet Nine (or Planet X), the newcomer in our Milky Way has a mass of about 10 times of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the Sun than Neptune.
According to Caltech, it would take this new planet about 10,000 to 20,000 years to make a full journey around the sun.
Researchers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown haven't actually seen the planet, but other research helped lead them to conclude that there is one.
Basically, they found that numerous small icy objects in the Kuiper Belt, which h that points to an object that might possibly be the next ninth planet in our solar system ad orbits that strangely pointed in the same direction.
Mike Brown (left) and Konstantin Batygin (Right)/ sciencemag
A mathematical modeling and computer simulation led them to believe the existence of distant eccentric planet, which provides the gravity and therefore the reason for the orbit.
By its gravitational force, they do know that the new planet is huge, and might even be 10 times bigger than Earth. That is almost as large as Neptune.
There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. It's a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that's still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting, Brown said.
Brown, who played a role in killing Pluto with discovery of Eris and Sedna (two dwarf planets bigger than Pluto), says "all those people who are mad that Pluto is no longer a planet can be thrilled to know that there is a real planet out there still to be found. Now we can go and find this planet and make the solar system have nine planets once again."
But Brown knows the discovery of the ninth planet will remains a hypotesis until Planet X itself appears within a telescope viewfinder.
Until theres a direct detection, its a hypothesis; even a potentially very good hypothesis, he said.
Suggested planet x orbits/ sciencemag
He said he would love to find a planet he helped discover, "but I'd also be perfectly happy if someone else found it. That is why we're publishing this paper. We hope that other people are going to get inspired and start searching."