Planet Nine

Planet Nine

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – researchers are looking for Planet Nine

Concept –

• In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union broke several hearts when it announced that it had reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.
• The decision was based on Pluto’s size and the fact that it resides within a zone of other similarly-sized objects.
• Currently, there are five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea.

• Scientists have continued their search for new planets and in 2016 Konstantin Batygin and Michael E. Brown, both from the California Institute of Technology, published a paper in The Astronomical Journal, stating that they had evidence for a distant giant planet and nicknamed it Planet Nine. They noted that it could have a mass about 10 times that of Earth.
• The most distant objects that we know of in the solar system are being slightly tugged by some gravitational effects.
• New computer studies said that Planet Nine could be five Earth masses. “Planet Nine is likely to be very reminiscent of a typical extrasolar super-Earth”.

Is Planet 9 a black hole?

• Researchers from across the globe have carried out several studies on Planet Nine and there are several theories about it, including one that stated Planet Nine could in fact be a black hole.
• The paper published last year in Physical Review Letters argued that the unknown object causing anomalous orbits of the trans-Neptunian objects could be a primordial black hole.
• Another study published in 2018 in The Astronomical Journal gave more evidence for the existence of Planet Nine. It noted that a trans-Neptunian object called 2015 BP519 had an unusual trajectory because it was affected by Planet Nine’s strong gravity.

Related terms:

Comets

Comets, which are much smaller than dwarf planets, are giant pieces of rock and ice that travel through space. Most comets were formed during the formation of planets and stars. When comets become large enough to be pulled by the sun’s gravity, they begin to travel towards the sun. This results in a large amount of the ice melting, which gives them a colorful and gaseous tail that travels behind them. Despite the appearance of a comet tail, the comets are circular until they are melted by the sun.

Asteroids

Asteroids, which are smaller than comets, are particles of rock and metal that travel through space. They are categorized in two categories, stony and iron-nickel, although most asteroids contain both stony and iron-nickel elements. They can either orbit a planet or travel aimlessly through the solar system. When asteroids enter the atmosphere of Earth or any other planet, they are called meteorites. Typically, asteroids are too small to form a circular shape, unlike dwarf planets or comets.

Satellites

Satellites is a broad term that is used to describe all orbiting objects. Dwarf planets are satellites, but asteroids are only considered satellites if they orbit something. Comets may be considered satellites when in orbit, but they rarely orbit other structures. The term “satellite” may refer to celestial bodies, but it can also refer to human-made machines that orbit Earth