it.darbs

· 02 Sep 2022

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Planet Nine

#iamnewhere



Hello, again!


Today I will tell you about an interesting discovery in astrophysics:

Astronomers may have discovered a ninth planet, beyond Pluto,  in our solar system. Planet Nine, as it is called, may have ten times the mass of the earth and four times the size. The planet, which has not yet been detected by telescopes, may take up 20,000 years to orbit the sun.

The closest the new planet comes to the sun may be about  15 times the distance of Pluto.  Then it heads out to a distance of 93 billion miles, or 75 times farther than the dwarf planet. Scientists are hoping to detect it when it comes closer to earth. Today's telescopes are so strong that the planet should be able to be seen within the next few years.

Astronomers made the discovery when they saw small objects that were aligned in a row in the Kuiper Belt, a region that contains countless objects that orbit the sun near Pluto. This meant that they might be pulled towards another , far larger object, that couldn't be seen.

The former planet Pluto is also thought to be one of the Kuiper Belt objects which have unusual orbits, unlike the orbits of the other planets. Planet Nine may be an object that was knocked out of the solar system when it was created.



For a long time scientists and astronomers have wondered if there were any planets  outside the orbit of Pluto. Ironically, the astronomers who discovered the possible existence of Planet Nine are the same who degraded Pluto to a  dwarf planet a few years ago 😄



That's all for today!

See you tomorrow!