http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/us/possible-ninth-planet/index.html
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered another planet which they are calling Planet Nine. It is 20 times farther from the sun than Neptune, has a mass 10 times that of Earth's, and takes between 10 and 20 thousand years to complete an orbit around the sun. And even so, it is still in our solar system, which is neat.
Planet Nine was found by using mathematical modeling. They haven't actually seen the planet, but their research indicates that it is out there in the Kuiper Belt, which is a field of icy debris beyond Neptune. The researchers hope to be able to find it with telescopes.
This news is pretty cool because it makes Planet Nine only the third planet to be discovered since ancient times! It proves that there is much more out there than we can imagine. To people on Earth, it may not be as relevant as the discovery of the New World, but it gives us perspective of the universe surrounding us.
That's so cool! It's always seemed like our solar system is set in stone because that's what we've grown up learning our whole life, so it's super cool to realize that there is something else we didn't see before!
ReplyDeleteI think it's so interesting that scientists can find planets with math!
ReplyDeleteLauren Bush; 9th
This is a cool story. I'm very interested to see where it goes from here. Also, that's a good point that Erin made. I haven't really thought about it, but it seems so true. We rarely stray from the basics we learned in elementary school.
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