Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 02 2018, @10:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the Plan[et]-9-from-outer-space dept.

The search for Planet X gets a boost with the discovery of a super distant object

A new discovery is strengthening the idea that a large, mysterious planet — known as Planet 9 or Planet X — may be lurking unseen at the Solar System's edge. Astronomers say they have found a tiny object orbiting far out from the Sun that fits with the Planet X theory. In fact, the object may have even been pushed onto the path it takes now by this hidden planet's gravity.

The tiny rock — eloquently named TG387 and nicknamed "The Goblin" — was spotted by astronomers at the Carnegie Institution of Science using a giant Japanese observatory in Hawaii called Subaru. The Carnegie team first spotted the object in 2015 and then followed it on its journey around the Sun for the last four years. Those observations revealed an incredibly distant target. TG387 takes a whopping 40,000 years to complete just one orbit around the Sun. And it's on a very elliptical path far from the inner Solar System; the closest it ever gets to the Sun is 65 Astronomical Units (AU), or 65 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth. For reference, Pluto only gets as far as 49 AUs from the Sun.

This orbit is particularly enticing since it puts TG387 in a select group of distant Solar System objects that all point to the possible existence of Planet X. Right now, there are 14 far-out space rocks that all share similar orbit patterns, suggesting that this planet is out there. Their paths are all super elongated, and they all cluster together in the same area when they approach the Sun. Plus, their orbits are all tilted alike, and they point in the same general direction, as if something big has pushed them into similar places. These objects are the strongest lines of evidence astronomers have for Planet X, and finding a new one that matches this pattern reinforces that idea that this planet is more than just a theory.

Planet Nine and 2015 TG387.

Also at ScienceAlert, The Atlantic, USA Today, and NPR.

A New High Perihelion Inner Oort Cloud Object

Previously: Another Trans-Neptunian Object With a High Orbital Inclination Points to Planet Nine
CU Boulder Researchers Say Collective Gravity, Not Planet Nine, Explains Orbits of Detached Objects
Planet Nine Search Turns Up 10 More Moons of Jupiter


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 02 2018, @10:47PM (5 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday October 02 2018, @10:47PM (#743107) Journal

    Those observations revealed an incredibly distant target. TG387 takes a whopping 40,000 years to complete just one orbit around the Sun. And it's on a very elliptical path far from the inner Solar System; the closest it ever gets to the Sun is 65 Astronomical Units (AU), or 65 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth. For reference, Pluto only gets as far as 49 AUs from the Sun.

    With something that far away, that takes that much time to orbit the sun, what hope do we have of actually locating the infamous Planet X? Should it be close to those objects? Or could it be anywhere along it's orbital path? At 65AU, that's a whole lot of sky to track.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday October 02 2018, @11:10PM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday October 02 2018, @11:10PM (#743116) Journal

    The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope [wikipedia.org] (LSST) should find a lot of these kinds of objects very soon.

    Both Sheppard and Brown's teams are using the Subaru telescope to search the entire sky for Planet Nine. They aren't close to being done yet, and bad weather has made some nights a wash. It's possible that their "prime search areas" are the wrong search areas, or that Planet Nine is too distant to be picked up by Subaru. Or it could just not exist.

    Also, the proposed orbit for Planet Nine is from 200 AU to 1,200 AU, but the current location could be closer to the latter number. It would be much larger than 300 km in diameter though.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday October 02 2018, @11:51PM (2 children)

      by Gaaark (41) on Tuesday October 02 2018, @11:51PM (#743140) Journal

      I thought Sheppard was off in Atlantis.

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 03 2018, @06:17AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 03 2018, @06:17AM (#743281) Journal

    With something that far away, that takes that much time to orbit the sun, what hope do we have of actually locating the infamous Planet X?

    Depends whether it's out there or not. If it is, we'll find it. If it's not, then alas, there is not much hope.