The Hunt for Planet X
Ever since the proposition of a ninth planet within our solar system by Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo in 2014 (Hunt 1) the hunt has been on for the elusive object. The use of extreme Kuiper Belt objects (eKBOs) which are objects believed to not be significantly influenced by Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, contributed to the idea of another object in the solar system influencing them (Malhotra 1). The study of the eKBOs orbit around our sun lead to the proposal of Planet X as the object that explains the orbits of the objects themselves (More 1). The evidence is their supporting the proposal, all that is needed is the planet itself.
What is Planet X or as it is also commonly referred to as Planet Nine? It is a proposed planet by Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo in 2014 to explain the orbits of eKBOs within our solar system (Hunt 1). The proposal is based on finding the object called 2012 VP113, …show more content…
With this how does the search field get narrowed down, for space is rather large? Calculations for everything from mean motion resonances to resonant orbital geometry constraints, then take the planets mass and put it all together to eliminate locations that the planet could not be. Those eliminations help narrow down the areas of space that need to be considered based on where the planet needs to be to alter the path the eKBOs orbit the Sun. For an in-depth look at the mathematics behind estimating the size, location, and orbit of Planet X see “Corralling a distant planet with extreme resonant Kuiper belt objects” by Malhotra, Volk, and Wang published 21 June 2016. They go in a great amount of detail in the report they submitted highlighting their research, and the mathematical equations that led them to their
Ever since the proposition of a ninth planet within our solar system by Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo in 2014 (Hunt 1) the hunt has been on for the elusive object. The use of extreme Kuiper Belt objects (eKBOs) which are objects believed to not be significantly influenced by Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, contributed to the idea of another object in the solar system influencing them (Malhotra 1). The study of the eKBOs orbit around our sun lead to the proposal of Planet X as the object that explains the orbits of the objects themselves (More 1). The evidence is their supporting the proposal, all that is needed is the planet itself.
What is Planet X or as it is also commonly referred to as Planet Nine? It is a proposed planet by Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo in 2014 to explain the orbits of eKBOs within our solar system (Hunt 1). The proposal is based on finding the object called 2012 VP113, …show more content…
With this how does the search field get narrowed down, for space is rather large? Calculations for everything from mean motion resonances to resonant orbital geometry constraints, then take the planets mass and put it all together to eliminate locations that the planet could not be. Those eliminations help narrow down the areas of space that need to be considered based on where the planet needs to be to alter the path the eKBOs orbit the Sun. For an in-depth look at the mathematics behind estimating the size, location, and orbit of Planet X see “Corralling a distant planet with extreme resonant Kuiper belt objects” by Malhotra, Volk, and Wang published 21 June 2016. They go in a great amount of detail in the report they submitted highlighting their research, and the mathematical equations that led them to their