Scientists at Harvard University and the Black Hole Initiative (BHI) have developed a new method of detecting black holes, which may end up linking “Planet Nine” in our solar system as one of the monsters that swallow light. Scientists also say that if the mysterious planet is determined to be a black hole, it is most likely a “primordial” the size of a grapefruit.
M. Weiss
The new method for identifying black holes is described in a document recently accepted for publication in The letters of the astrophysical journal. The authors of the article, Dr. Avi Loeb, a science professor at Harvard, and Amir Siraj, a Harvard university student, say that the method works by identifying flashes that result from small astronomical objects intercepted by black holes.
“In the vicinity of a black hole, small bodies approaching it melt as a result of heating of the gas-accumulating bottom of the interstellar medium in the black hole,” Siraj said in a Harvard press release reaching via Gizmodo. He added that “once they melt, small bodies are subject to tidal disruption by the black hole, followed by tidal disrupted body buildup in the black hole.”
In other words, the Loeb and Siraj method works by detecting the electromagnetic radiation that results from astronomical objects, such as comets, being annihilated by the superheated gas surrounding a black hole. The interruption of the tides of the bodies referred to by Siraj is an astronomical phenomenon by which black holes tear apart astronomical bodies with their tidal force. That is, a gravitational force that stretches one body toward and away from the center of mass of another body.
Planet Nine will be the first “lead candidate” to be observed using the new method in the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in northern Chile. For those unfamiliar, Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet that has been theorized as a way to explain the strange orbital dynamics of bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Caltech researchers who “discovered” Planet Nine using mathematical models and computer simulations describe the mysterious body in the following video.
If it turns out that Planet Nine is actually a black hole, it would in fact be relatively small. In fact, if Planet Nine is a black hole, it is likely to be a “primordial” that formed shortly after the Big Bang. These theorized black holes are not the result of stellar collapse, but rather the gravitational collapse of high densities of matter in the early universe. Black holes developed in this way could have, if they are real, as little as Earth’s mass.
Looking ahead, Loeb and Siraj say they should be able to determine whether or not Planet Nine is a black hole within a year. “If Planet Nine’s existence is confirmed through direct electromagnetic search, it will be the first detection of a new planet in the solar system in two centuries, not counting Pluto,” Siraj said in the Harvard press release. Confirmation that Planet Nine is a black hole can also help set limits on the amount of dark matter contained in the lightless mega-monsters of the early universe.
Caltech
What do you think about the possibility that Planet Nine really is a grapefruit-sized black hole? Are you ready to jump on the black hole wagon or do you still think Planet Nine is a planet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Featured Image: M. Weiss
