New object in Solar System may unravel Planet Nine mystery
Astronomers may be close to identifying a mysterious object in our solar system. New research points to a potential candidate that might be the sought-after world, known as Planet Nine.
Astronomers have been searching for Planet Nine, or Planet X, for years. This hypothetical object could explain the unusual orbits of certain objects in the Kuiper Belt, where icy celestial bodies are located. A few days ago, researchers identified an object on the outskirts of the solar system named 2017 OF201. It is characterized by an extremely extensive orbit, which takes about 25,000 years to complete. According to scientists, its diameter is about 435 miles, classifying it as a dwarf planet, similar to Pluto.
Is the new candidate the long-sought Planet Nine?
The object was found by scientists led by astronomers from the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Natural Sciences. It is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO), meaning that its orbit around the Sun is farther than Neptune's orbit. The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union reported the discovery of this potential new planet on May 21. A publication by Sihao Cheng, Jiaxuan Li, and Eritas Yang describing the discovery is available in the scientific database arXiv.
The uniqueness of 2017 OF201 stems from its extreme orbit and significant size. Astronomers first noticed this object as a bright spot in data from the Victor M. Blanco Telescope in Chile and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. Further studies allowed for the identification of 19 observations of this object over seven years.
Analysis revealed that its perihelion, the closest point in its orbit to the Sun, is 44.5 astronomical units (AU), and its aphelion, the farthest point, is 1,600 AU. Currently, 2017 OF201 is about 90.5 AU from Earth, meaning it is 90 times farther from us than the Sun.
Scientists suggest that the trajectory of 2017 OF201 might have resulted from a close encounter with a large planet, whose gravity ejected the object into such a distant orbit. This orbit means the object spends only about 1% of its time within the detectable range from Earth. Kevin Napier from the University of Michigan noted that such objects are difficult to detect because they are barely visible and can be observed only when they are near the Sun.
It is extremely difficult to detect
The extreme orbit, which takes about 25,000 years to complete, indicates a complex history of gravitational interactions. Eritas Yang from Princeton University stated that 2017 OF201 must have experienced close encounters with a large planet, causing its ejection into a distant orbit. Sihao Cheng from the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Natural Sciences added that there might have been more such encounters and that the object could have been first ejected into the Oort cloud and then sent further away.
Jiaxuan Li from Princeton University explained that many TNOs have orbits concentrated in specific orientations, but 2017 OF201 is an exception. This grouping of orbits had previously been interpreted as evidence of the existence of Planet X, which could gravitationally affect these objects. However, the presence of 2017 OF201, which does not fit this pattern, challenges this theory.
Scientists relied solely on archival data
This discovery is crucial for understanding the outer solar system. The area beyond the Kuiper Belt, where the object is located, was previously considered empty, but the presence of 2017 OF201 suggests there may be more similar objects that are too far to detect now.
Interestingly, this discovery was made possible thanks to archival data. Jiaxuan Li emphasized that all the data used to identify and characterize this object were publicly available, meaning that groundbreaking discoveries are not reserved only for professional astronomers. Any researcher with the right tools and knowledge could have made this discovery, highlighting the importance of sharing scientific resources.
