Planet Nine deemed super-Earth hidden somewhere in Solar System is being chased by astronomers
There is a possibility of a huge planet existing at the very edge of our Solar System. Astronomers have discovered a small object with an odd orbit in our Solar System.
This strange orbit of the small object can be defined by this large planet wandering at the edge of the Solar System.
This large planet or Planet Nine hypothesis, considering both evidence and consequences, has been explored in previous literatures from both dynamical and observational perspectives.
The new discovery confirms a prediction which was made by astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown. They were the first to theorise the existence of Planet Nine.
Apart from Planet Nine, much depends on the discovery and dynamical analysis of this small object or extreme Trans-Neptune Object (TNO) with a high orbital inclination.
When researchers came across the small object having a strange orbit, they learnt the possible presence of the huge planet which maybe influencing the strange orbit of the TNO.
According to the astronomers, the ninth planet may have been orbiting Sun at a great distance for a few years now. When astronomers started learning more about it in 2016, they also were trying to study many small and distant objects in our solar system all orbiting further away from Pluto.
The small objects all had one thing in common; they were orbiting Sun at an easily distinguishable angle from all the planets in our solar system.
When astronomers started to analyse the observations made, they suggested that the gravitational influence of another planet is changing the orbits of these distant objects.
TNO OR 2015 BP519
The undiscovered Planet Nine and the newly discovered object with an odd orbit go hand in hand. The small object called called 2015 BP519, according to additional findings, maybe having this odd orbit because of Planet Nine as we mentioned above.
TNO or 2015 BP519 orbits at a 54-degree angle which is not how the inner planets of our solar system orbit.
Considering the dynamics in the presence of undiscovered Planet Nine, the huge object can be considered altering the orbital behaviour and evolution of 2015 BP519.
In the Planet Nine paradigm, TNOs generally spend more time living in resonances than not, with relatively short periods between the attainment of resonances.
In physics, resonance is a phenomenon in which a vibrating system or external force drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies.
The transitions in the resonance-hopping paradigm are generally caused by close encounters with Planet Nine. These transitions may have been providing 2015 BP519 its odd orbital behaviour.
A study on arXiv.org tells that with these orbital elements, 2015 BP519 is the most extreme TNO discovered to date.
The study further mentions the consideration of the long term orbital stability and evolutionary behavior of 2015 BP519 within the context of the Planet Nine Hypothesis. The study found that BP519 adds to the circumstantial evidence for the existence of this proposed new member of the Solar System - Planet Nine, which is now being hunted by the astronomers.
According to a Popular Mechanics report, Planet Nine is likely several times as far away as Pluto which means this huge planet is barely a dot even if we see it through our most powerful telescopes.
Planet Nine is estimated to be 2-4 times the radius, and about 10 times the mass of Earth and it's most likely a gas or ice giant, such as Neptune or Jupiter.