Pair of Dwarf Planets May Lurk Beyond Pluto in Our Solar System

At least two unknown dwarf planets may be lurking beyond Pluto,

orbiting around the Sun in our own solar system just waiting to be

discovered, according to a new study.

This comes from an analysis of objects observed beyond Neptune,

called extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNO), which normally should be

flying around randomly in space, but in this case show some unusual

symmetry.

“This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes

us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution of

the orbital elements of the ETNO,” Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, with the

Complutense University of Madrid, said in a press release.

“We consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto,” he added.

According to conventional theory, there is a certain set of

characteristics that ETNO orbits must fulfill. For example, they should

have a semi-major axis, or average distance from the Sun, of about 150

astronomical units (AU). (1 AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun –

roughly 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.) These orbits

should also have an inclination, relative to the plane of the solar

system, of almost 0 degrees.

However, the actual orbits of the 13 ETNOs studied are quite

different, with semi-major axes ranging from 150 to 525 AU and average

inclinations of about 20 degrees.

“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,”

Marcos said.

The new results are detailed in two papers in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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Pair of Dwarf Planets May Lurk Beyond Pluto in Our Solar System