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Space & Astronomy

Two large planets may lurk beyond Pluto

By T.K. Randall
January 17, 2015 · Comment icon 93 comments

Could the fabled Planet X actually exist ? Image Credit: NASA
Evidence suggests that two planets larger than the Earth may be present in the outer solar system.
Ever since the discovery that Pluto was not the only planetary body beyond the orbit of Neptune the hunt has been on to locate other distant worlds lurking in the outer reaches of the solar system.

Now scientists in Madrid have announced the results of a new study in to 'trans-Neptunian objects' suggesting that there could be at least two more new planets larger than the Earth still waiting to be discovered far out in space beyond the orbit of Pluto.
"The exact number is uncertain, given that the data that we have is limited, but our calculations suggest that there are at least two planets, and probably more, within the confines of our solar system," said scientist and study co-author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos.

The research has given merit to the possible existence of the enigmatic 'Planet X', a long rumored world much larger than our own that is said to reside somewhere in the outer solar system.

Until astronomers can conclusively pinpoint the location of one of these extremely distant worlds however their existence is likely to remain the subject of both controversy and debate.

Source: Fox News | Comments (93)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #84 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 9 years ago
Ahem. One ninth? Opps, sorry a touch of brain fade there. That's not inherently implausible, is it? There was a British show on TV recently about new theories for the origin of the solar system and it suggested a large planet could well have been ejected from the young solar system through a gravitational interaction with Jupiter as the planets settled into their current positions (didn't get to see it in detail as I was on the phone at the time). It's not impossible but it is not what is being claimed. It's also unlikely. Gas giants tend to give out a lot more heat than they receive from a pr... [More]
Comment icon #85 Posted by Merc14 9 years ago
Absolutely wrong! The designation of a solar system object as a dwarf planet has NOTHING to do with it's size. A planet must satisfy 3 criteria: It must orbit the Sun. It must be massive enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium (in other words it must be massive enough that gravity makes the object more or less spherical). It must have "cleared it's neighbourhood". Any object which fulfils the first two criteria but not the third is a dwarf planet (regardless of size). As these two objects are believed to be in the Kuiper Belt they have not cleared their neighbourhood and are, therefore... [More]
Comment icon #86 Posted by danielost 9 years ago
Opps, sorry a touch of brain fade there. It's not impossible but it is not what is being claimed. It's also unlikely. Gas giants tend to give out a lot more heat than they receive from a process known as the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. Because of their large mass gravity attempts to cause the object to collapse. This shrinking heats up the core. The up-shot of this is that a gas giant radiates quite brightly in the infrared. A Saturn mass planet at 2000 AU would be a lot easier to see in infrared than an Earth sized planet at 200 AU. Since 1983 there have been a whole host of orbiting infrar... [More]
Comment icon #87 Posted by danielost 9 years ago
Now that I have had some time to look into this I am not sure I completely agree with your statement that I am "absolutely wrong" any longer. You are correct that upper and lower size and mass limits have not been defined by the International Astronomical Union(IAU) for dwarf planets but it seems that it is assumed that dwarf planets are small objects, smaller than our moon, as per this NASA page https://solarsystem....fm?Object=Dwarf Second, we have no proof that the two planets in the article didn't clear their neighborhoods. As you stated, they may have been ejected early in the solar syste... [More]
Comment icon #88 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 9 years ago
Now that I have had some time to look into this I am not sure I completely agree with your statement that I am "absolutely wrong" any longer. Merc you were wrong, are wrong and unless the IAU changes it's definition of planets and dwarf planets you will remain wrong. This is the official definition of planets and dwarf planets from the IAU press release in 2006 which announced the definition: RESOLUTION 5AThe IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the following way: (1) A "planet" [1] is a celest... [More]
Comment icon #89 Posted by Merc14 9 years ago
the whole dwarf planet thing, was a way to reclassify pluto as a non-planet. it helped when they started finding other small planets out there. personally, i believe pluto and the other dwarf planets are planets. pluto was found by using math. calculations of uranus said there was another planet out there. two men working independent of each other using the math at the time, found pluto. only one got full credit. about ten years after finding pluto, we discovered the math was wrong. i think we were supposed to find pluto when we did. we have the terrain, gas gaints, ice giants and now dwarf pl... [More]
Comment icon #90 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 9 years ago
all that can mean is they have been looking in the wrong places. i know the story says that these planets are in the ecliptic. but, they could be outside of it. If the hypothetical planets were way outside ecliptic the mathematics would show that. These astronomers are not making wild guesses when they come to the conclusion that there are two Earth sized planets at 200 AU, not two Saturn sized planets at 2000 AU, they are using mathematics. Now if you have the mathematics to back up your claim feel free to post it. You are also assuming that these infrared observatories only observed the ecli... [More]
Comment icon #91 Posted by godnodog 9 years ago
Read my reply to Merc, it wasn't your error, it was his. I was refereing the mention of Fox News, I've could have sweared that the fox article was mentioned here, I stand by the dwarf planets. Still thank you for commenting
Comment icon #92 Posted by danielost 9 years ago
There is possibly hundreds of Pluto size objects past Neptune so what is to be done? The present definition is inadequate as it stands IMHO and it seems that the astronomical community is not happy with the situation either. Alan Stern a recent Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA said of the IAU definition (from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Alan_Stern ) Stern has become particularly involved in the debate surrounding the 2006 definition of planet by the IAU. After the IAU's decision was made he was quoted as saying "It's an awful definition; it's sloppy... [More]
Comment icon #93 Posted by Merc14 9 years ago
Merc you were wrong, are wrong and unless the IAU changes it's definition of planets and dwarf planets you will remain wrong. This is the official definition of planets and dwarf planets from the IAU press release in 2006 which announced the definition: Source: IAU The only mention of mass or size for a dwarf planet is that it must have sufficient mass for hydrostatic equilibrium. Let's compare that to what I said shall we: Suspiciously similar don't you think? It looks like one of us might know what they are talking about. Now a reminder of what you claimed: (my emphasis). You made a claim ab... [More]


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