Is there a new planet?

The solar system could get even more interesting with the alleged sighting of a new planet in its midst. To understand more about the sighting, Professor Andrew Chen, from the Wits School of Physics explains what it is that has been found.

Prof Chen explains that a new planet has not yet been discovered and what has been discovered is that six of the objects in the Kuiper Bel, that are around 80 times further from the Sun than the Earth, have orbits that are unusually clustered together.

“These similarities can be explained if there is a planet roughly 10 times the mass of Earth, with composition probably similar to that of Neptune, in an eccentric orbit at a distance from the Sun at least 200 times that of the Earth,” said Prof Chen.

He went to add that no direct detection has yet been made and that this new planet, if it exists, would be a surprising and exciting development as it would be a completely new class of object whose origin would have to be explained.

“However, since it would be at least 10 times further from the Sun than Neptune, it would have little effect on our local neighbourhood of the solar system,” said Prof Chen.

The original anomalies in the orbits were noticed when one of the six Kuiper Belt objects, was discovered in 2014 by scientists Chadwick Trujillo and Scott Sheppard two years ago.

Prof Chen also said that the more precise analysis of the discovery was made by professors Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

He concludes by stressing that the actual planet, if it exists, has not yet been seen directly and that its existence has been inferred by its effect on the orbits of other objects which have been seen.

Details: Wits School of Physics 011 717 1000