Dwarf Planet Found at the Edge of the Solar System May to Something Else
A small icy planed nicknamed ‘’Goblin’’ has been found close the edge of our solar system, and it may not be as solitary as it was first thought.
Physicians from the Carnegie Institution for Science found the planet, which is far-away from Pluto and even the solar system, as it is situated at approximately 7.4 billion miles away from the sun, or almost 2.5 times farther away from Pluto.
The newly found planet could guide researchers towards the elusive ‘’Planet X’’, a hidden planet thought to be 10 times bigger than Earth by some researchers.
Formally called 2015 TG387, the planet was found back in 2015, but researchers thought that it was a minor ice world with nothing to offer. Three years later, it was discovered that the planet has a particularly unusual orbit.
It follows an elongated 40,000 years orbit that never brings it close to the Sun. While the huge planets in your system manifest an intense gravitational pool, Goblin seems unfazed by them, which leads scientists to believe that a greater force may be affecting it.
Some have previously theorized the existence of a planet that is larger than Earth, situated at the brink our solar system and able to influence the way in which these smaller worlds shape their orbit.
Other theories argue that the planet cannot be very large, since a planet that is ten times bigger than Earth should be observable since it would block out light from stars situated behind it as it moves. Since the planet was not spotted, it would meant that its actual size is probably much smaller, but this means that its gravitational pull would has to be inexplicably strong in order to influence dwarf planets like Goblin.
For now, the existence of another planet remains a hot topic since there is no factual way to prove its existence until it is observed by a probe, or using other empirical methods.
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