Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology in the United States have narrowed down their search for the solar system’s so-called Planet Nine, also known as Planet X. portal Live Science.
The hypothesis of the existence of another planet in our star system arose after the discovery of a number of objects with strangely curved orbits in the Kuiper belt (a large area of asteroids and comets beyond the orbit of Neptune).
The analysis showed that such orbits could only be explained by the gravitational pull of a massive planet seven times larger than Earth. If Planet X really exists, then it should replace Earth, becoming the fifth largest planet in the Solar System.
According to preliminary calculations, Planet Nine is located 500-600 astronomical units from the Sun, that is, 500-600 times farther than our own star, Earth.
Astronomers analyzed 78% of the area where Planet The rest of space is beyond the reach of the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii, where observations are made using its telescopes.
According to scientists, they expect to find Planet Nine within a few years.
Earlier astronomers I learnedIt turns out that the solar system is much larger than previously thought.