The search for Pluto’s successor continues with the Rubin Observatory, could Planet X be the answer? – Technology news, Firstpost

FP TrendsJune 29, 2020 5:28:55 PM IST

After ruling out Pluto as the ninth planet in our solar system, there are currently eight planets. But astronomers hope to discover the ninth planet that is much larger than Earth.

He called the Planet Nine or Planet X, the mass is hypothetical as of now and exists somewhere in the farthest regions of the solar system. Its existence was first calculated in 2014 by astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC and his collaborator Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University.

Red and infrared images taken by the Ralph / Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). The bright expanse is the western lobe of the “heart”, informally called Sputnik Planum, which has been found to be rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and ice. Image credit: NASA / JPL

Although the calculations suggest the possibility of Planet X‘s existence, could not be visualized in outer space until now. However, with the development of Rubin Observatory Slowly advancing its final stages, the ninth planet is closer to us now than ever. The observatory will have a, which has been named in honor of Vera C Rubin, credited with some of the earliest discoveries related to dark matter.

Planet Nine had come into focus in 2012 when Sheppard and Trujillo found 2012 VP113, a world that follows a very elliptical orbit around the sun. Interestingly, its orbit was similar to that of another world called Sedna. Both had long orbits that pointed in the same direction and were aligned.

But these objects cannot form in such orbits, at least not by themselves. Therefore, there is another large planet that should be between two and 15 times larger than the size of the Earth that maneuvered 2012 VP113 and Sedna in the orbits in which they were located.

These studies were published in Nature magazine in March 2014 and this sparked speculation about the ninth planet.

In 2015 another world called Goblin was found that had a similar orbit. This gave precision in the detection calculations Planet x‘location s in the solar system

Now, researchers are waiting for Rubin to start working, which is slated to start in 2022, in order to find the planet. The powerful scanning telescope can scan the entire sky in a few days.. Therefore, if there is a planet like Planet X, it will be clear.