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The elusive Planet Nine , which is hypothesize to be lurking somewhere in the taboo range of thesolar system , may not be a satellite after all , a fresh study intimate . Instead , what we assumed to be a massive physical object could be grounds thatgravitydoesn’t form like we imagine it does . But the raw theory does n’t sit well with everyone .
ThePlanet Nine speculation , first proposed in 2016 , argues that the strange orbits of objects in the Kuiper Belt beyondNeptune , which seem to be being pull away fromthe sun , can be explain by the presence of an undiscovered ninth planet up to 10 times more massive than Earth . Astronomers have been search for Planet Nine ever since . However , despitesearching almost one-half of the dark sky , they have so far come up empty - handed .
An artist’s impression of what Planet Nine might look like at the edge of the solar system.
In the newfangled study , published Sept. 22 inThe Astronomical Journal , researchers propose another account for the gravitational anomalousness respect in the out solar organization — that there are n’t any anomalies . Instead , the team shows that the inconsistencies disappear completely when applying an alternative conception of gravity have it away as modify Newtonian kinetics ( MOND ) .
Isaac Newton ’s second lawstates that gravity tugging on an object is reciprocally relative to the length between the physical object and the objective that is rive it , think that gravity gets imperfect as the distance between the two physical object increase . But MOND tweaks this and suggests that past a sure distance , the gravitational twist is directly proportional to the distance , meaning the persuasiveness of the gravitational pull does not spend off as cursorily at greater distances . This indicate that objects orbiting a larger objective at great distances , such as stars on the outskirts of spiral galaxies like theMilky Way , would experience a greater gravitational pull than the 2d law would suggest .
grant to MOND , then , Kuiper Belt object are actually being pulled by the rest of our galaxy , rather than by an unexplored planet .
Modified Newtonian dynamics is an alternative way of interpreting the effects of gravity on a galactic scale.
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The researchers were surprise by their finding . The initial aim of their study was to " predominate out " MOND as a potential explanation for Planet Nine . However , when they go for it to the problem , it seemed to lick the return perfectly .
" MOND is really good at explaining astronomic - scale observations , " study authorHarsh Mathur , a theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio , said in astatement . " But I had n’t expected that it would have noticeable effects on the out solar system . "
MOND and dark matter are both attempts at explaining the “missing mass” in large galaxies.
MOND wasfirst suggest in 1983as an alternative todark affair — the invisible particle of unknown origin that purportedly makes up 27 % of all affair in the universe , fit in toNASA . Dark issue was propose to explicate the " drop mass job , " which arose when astronomers realized that stars and major planet alone could not explain the observed gravitational pull of coltsfoot . But MOND suggests that if upstage objects are experiencing a groovy gravitational pulling , then there may not be as much wanting mass as we originally thought .
However , MOND can not excuse all of the universe ’s missing mass and thus can not completely rule out the idea of dark matter . And other subject area paint a picture that toreconcile MOND with quantum mechanic and relativity , " low-down " material needed to be tally to existing hypothesis , and some of those additions are problematic .
Related : Elusive Planet Nine could be surrounded by hot lunar month , and that ’s how we ’d find it
Not everyone is convinced by this belated Planet Nine theory .
" I would be delighted with the idea that what we thought was Planet Nine was really new physics,“Michael Brown , an uranologist at Caltech who co - nominate the Planet Nine hypothesis , told Live Science in an electronic mail . " But I suspect that the chance [ of this being honest ] are miserable , " he added . " It ’s in all likelihood just a normal major planet rather . "
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MOND is not the only alternative explanation for Planet Nine that has pop up in late long time . Some experts haveproposed that the supposed satellite is actually a mini Joseph Black holethat is pulling the hem in objects in .
But whether MOND is the answer to the Planet Nine enigma or not , the study team believes that the conception has a persona to play in further understanding our cosmic neighborhood .
" Regardless of the outcome , this work foreground the potential for the outer solar system to wait on as a lab for examination gravitational attraction and studying fundamental problems of physics , " study authorKatherine Brown , a theoretic physicist at Hamilton College in New York State , said in the program line .
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