There may be a ninth planet in the solar system: Why scientists have returned to the sensational topic

We know from school that the solar system has eight planets. It includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, because Pluto was no longer classified as a planet in 2006.

Scientists have investigated the so-called "eternal night," which is outside the realm of planets and may have discovered a new Planet 9, but not all scientists agree. The Conversation showed researchers' differing opinions about the new celestial body.

The "eternal night" site is called the "transneptunian expanse," and while exploring it, scientists noticed a population of inhabitants called "transneptunian objects."

However, researchers are divided over the discovery. Some see this population as a manifestation of a new undiscovered planet in the cold confines of the solar system. Others believe it cannot be, because the features in this area are inaccurate observations.

Scientists have named the undiscovered planet "Planet 9" and have conducted special studies to estimate the size and characteristics of the celestial body. According to scientists, it could be a very large planet, 4-8 times the mass of Earth. It is also probably far away from the Sun.

If they do prove its existence, this celestial body will be different from the known objects in the solar system.

Planets are divided into small rocky worlds with solid surfaces, such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and gas giants, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. A new planet can either be very rocky or have a gaseous world, slightly smaller than Neptune.

A new body is very difficult to detect, because it is so far away that powerful telescopes are needed, but most instruments have a small field of view.

Harvard researchers claim that the CNEOS14 meteorite that fell into the Pacific Ocean in 2014 is not from our solar system. This makes it possible to connect Planet 9 with this celestial body.

To discover the connection, scientists mapped the orbit that the planet might have had and then superimposed the meteorite on its orbit in the sky. Scientists found a match between where the meteorite fell and the region where Planet 9 might be located. The probability of a random coincidence is 1%.

Scientists have also reconstructed the trajectory of the meteorite fall and found three anomalies. Based on this, we can assume that with a probability of 99.9% CNEOS14 collided with an unknown planet in the outer solar system.

According to this hypothesis, the meteorite was probably pointed in our direction by an unknown large object, possibly Planet 9, some 30-60 years ago.

If this assumption is correct, then by tracing the trajectory of CNEOS14 in the past, scientists will find the location of Planet 9, which will be very close to the point where the constellations of Aries, Taurus and Centauri meet.

Previously OBOZREVATEL also told about the fact that the universe, as scientists suggest, can simply vanish and disappear completely.

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