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Does Planet X really exist in the Solar System: what scientists say

Alina MilsentLife
Solar System

The universe has many mysteries, and one of them concerns the mysterious Planet X. Astronomers say they have found strong evidence of the existence of a ninth planet in the far reaches of the solar system.

No one has actually seen Planet X, and it still remains just a theory. The Daily Mail reported on new research by scientists on this mystery.

The theory of the ninth planet

Scientists have good reasons to believe in the ninth planet theory. They have discovered that far at the edge of the Solar System, the orbits of a number of celestial bodies are disturbed by something still unknown to mankind.

But they failed to discover the mysterious world. The most they could do was make mathematical calculations of the probability.

The history of planet X

At the California Institute of Technology, scientists Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin conducted research on the existence of a planet that is currently unknown. In 2015, they announced that they had found some evidence that Planet X was affecting the orbits of celestial bodies at the edge of the solar system.

176 years have passed since the discovery of the last planet, Neptune. Since then, i.e. since 1846, there have been many suggestions that it may not be the last, and that another world may still exist far beyond its orbit.

Percival Lowell was the first to claim with certainty that the ninth planet was a reality. After his death, he bequeathed a lot of money for research, and his efforts were not in vain. In 1930, Pluto was discovered, which was mistakenly thought to be the mysterious Planet X.

Eventually, Pluto lost its planet status in 2006. Since then, any planet in the Solar System that is not yet known to science has been called Planet X.

What planet X could be like

Using computer modelling and mathematical calculations, scientists Brown and Batygin found out that there are at least 5 celestial bodies with unique orbits in the Kuiper belt.

But this cannot be called a great discovery. The theory is widely criticised. These are just preliminary figures and data based on calculations and theories. Proponents of the Planet X hypothesis express hope that Brown and Batygin's modelling will one day lead to a new chapter in the search for celestial bodies at the edge of the Solar System.

Other theories

Not everyone believes in the existence of Planet X. For example, physicists Jakub Scholz and James Unwin argued that it is just a tiny black hole.

Scientists from Harvard voiced another theory, according to which both Planet X and a double satellite of the Sun once existed.

Nibiru, sometimes called Planet X, is another hypothetical planet at the edge of our solar system. Theorists believe that Nibiru's gravitational influence disrupted the orbits of other planets hundreds of years ago.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL talked about scientists' hypotheses about when a large-scale explosion on the Sun could occur.

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