Planet Nine From Outer Space or is it Planet X
For all of our peeps that like Science and Space stuff, we here at TG2 Studios have learned that today, January 20, 2016 a new “planet” has been discovered. Well sort of…
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA have been studying the Kuiper Belt and believe they have discovered evidence of a massive planet at the outer reaches of our solar system. Researchers Mike Brown (@plutokiller on Twitter) and Konstantin Batygin (@kbatygin) used mathematical modeling and computer simulations to make their find, but have not yet actually observed the celestial body. Their discovery is so distant that it is calculated to take 10,000 to 20,000 years to orbit the sun and believed to be 10 times the mass of the earth.
On a side note, Brown was part of the research team that demoted Pluto to dwarf planet in 2006. Thus, his Twitter handle.
The mathematical calculations and computer simulations used the orbits of six known objects in the Kuiper belt to infer the existence of Planet Nine by observing the gravitational effects of a much larger body.
See below for more information in the infographic from Space.com
Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration.
Here is link to two videos at Space.com of Brown and Bastygin explaining the discovery of Planet Nine. It is worth the watch.
One interesting note is this from Mike Brown’s Twitter feed:
I’m just going to leave this here (courtesy of @miquai) pic.twitter.com/9Ftu6w8U3A
— Mike Brown (@plutokiller) January 20, 2016
I find it very interesting that Rajesh Koothrappali was not involved in this discovery….
Let us know what you think of this news in the comments below.
