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+--- Thread: There Are More Planets in Our Solar System Research Suggests (/thread-475.html)
There Are More Planets in Our Solar System Research Suggests - C C - Jan 15, 2015
http://scitechdaily.com/astrophysicists-believe-planets-solar-system/
EXCERPT: Numerical calculations made by researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Cambridge reveal that there could be at least two unknown planets hidden well beyond Pluto. If confirmed, this hypothesis would revolutionize solar system models.
Astronomers have spent decades debating whether some dark trans-Plutonian planet remains to be discovered within the solar system. According to the calculations of scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain) and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) not only one, but at least two planets must exist to explain the orbital behavior of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNO).
The most accepted theory establishes that the orbits of these objects, which travel beyond Neptune, should be distributed randomly, and by an observational bias, their paths must fulfill a series of characteristics....
RE: There Are More Planets in Our Solar System Research Suggests - Yazata - Jan 19, 2015
(Jan 15, 2015 11:32 PM)C C Wrote: http://scitechdaily.com/astrophysicists-believe-planets-solar-system/
EXCERPT: Numerical calculations made by researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Cambridge reveal that there could be at least two unknown planets hidden well beyond Pluto.
Yeah, I saw that in the news.
Quote:According to the calculations of scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain) and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) not only one, but at least two planets must exist to explain the orbital behavior of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNO).
Apparently they deduced the existence of these things indirectly, by oberving the orbits of some trans-Nepunian objects whose orbits are inclined at about a 20 degree angle to the ecliptic. It's assumed that these objects were flung into their non-conforming orbits by the gravitation of some unknown larger objects. Those calculations revealed two new Earth-mass planets out there.
Quote:Astronomers have spent decades debating whether some dark trans-Plutonian planet remains to be discovered within the solar system.
My understanding is that a number of Pluto-sized "dwarf planets" have already been discovered out there. These two new ones, if they really exist, might be the giants of that newly-defined class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object