Jamie
June 20th, 2008, 07:50 AM
By Ker Than,
LiveScience
Posted: 2008-06-19 17:56:30
Filed Under: Science News
LiveScience.com
(June 19) - An icy, unknown world might lurk in the distant reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto, according to a new computer model.
A New World?
SednaCaltech / Getty Images
New research has found that a hidden world may exist beyond Pluto. According to a computer model, the world is much bigger than Pluto and could satisfy a hypothesis for a "Planet X." Here, a drawing shows Sedna, an object which could be part of this new world.
The hidden world -- thought to be much bigger than Pluto based on the model -- could explain unusual features of the Kuiper Belt, a region of space beyond Neptune littered with icy and rocky bodies. Its existence would satisfy the long-held hopes and hypotheses for a "Planet X" envisioned by scientists and sci-fi buffs alike.
"Although the search for a distant planet in the solar system is old, it is far from over," said study team member Patryk Lykawka of Kobe University in Japan.
If the new world is confirmed, it would not be technically a planet. Under a controversial new definition adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) last week, it would instead be the largest known "plutoid."
The Kuiper Belt contains many peculiar features that can't be explained by standard solar system models. One is the highly irregular orbits of some of the belt's members.
The most famous is Sedna, a rocky object located three times farther from the sun than Pluto. Sedna takes 12,000 years to travel once around the Sun, and its orbit ranges from 80 to 100 astronomical units (AU). One AU is equal to the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
According to the model, Sedna and other Kuiper Belt oddities could be explained by a world 30 to 70 percent as massive as Earth orbiting between 100 AU and 200 AU from the sun.
This ultraviolet flash of light was produced from inside this dying star just before it exploded. It marked the first time scientists observed what happened in the final moments before a doomed star burst into space.
At that distance, any water on the world's surface would be completely frozen. However, it might support a subsurface ocean like those suspected to exist on the moons Titan and Enceladus, said Mark Sykes, director of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona.
"The interesting thing for me is the suggestion of the kinds of very interesting objects that may yet await discovery in the outer solar system," said Sykes, who was not involved in the study. "We are still scratching the edges of that region of the solar system, and I expect many surprises await us with the future deeper surveys."
WOW
it amazes me how much SPACE news there has been lately!
very amazing!
*pics of 3d models on page*
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/large-planet-x-may-lurk-beyond-pluto/20080619152309990002?icid=100214839x1204178619x120 0186195
LiveScience
Posted: 2008-06-19 17:56:30
Filed Under: Science News
LiveScience.com
(June 19) - An icy, unknown world might lurk in the distant reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto, according to a new computer model.
A New World?
SednaCaltech / Getty Images
New research has found that a hidden world may exist beyond Pluto. According to a computer model, the world is much bigger than Pluto and could satisfy a hypothesis for a "Planet X." Here, a drawing shows Sedna, an object which could be part of this new world.
The hidden world -- thought to be much bigger than Pluto based on the model -- could explain unusual features of the Kuiper Belt, a region of space beyond Neptune littered with icy and rocky bodies. Its existence would satisfy the long-held hopes and hypotheses for a "Planet X" envisioned by scientists and sci-fi buffs alike.
"Although the search for a distant planet in the solar system is old, it is far from over," said study team member Patryk Lykawka of Kobe University in Japan.
If the new world is confirmed, it would not be technically a planet. Under a controversial new definition adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) last week, it would instead be the largest known "plutoid."
The Kuiper Belt contains many peculiar features that can't be explained by standard solar system models. One is the highly irregular orbits of some of the belt's members.
The most famous is Sedna, a rocky object located three times farther from the sun than Pluto. Sedna takes 12,000 years to travel once around the Sun, and its orbit ranges from 80 to 100 astronomical units (AU). One AU is equal to the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
According to the model, Sedna and other Kuiper Belt oddities could be explained by a world 30 to 70 percent as massive as Earth orbiting between 100 AU and 200 AU from the sun.
This ultraviolet flash of light was produced from inside this dying star just before it exploded. It marked the first time scientists observed what happened in the final moments before a doomed star burst into space.
At that distance, any water on the world's surface would be completely frozen. However, it might support a subsurface ocean like those suspected to exist on the moons Titan and Enceladus, said Mark Sykes, director of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona.
"The interesting thing for me is the suggestion of the kinds of very interesting objects that may yet await discovery in the outer solar system," said Sykes, who was not involved in the study. "We are still scratching the edges of that region of the solar system, and I expect many surprises await us with the future deeper surveys."
WOW
it amazes me how much SPACE news there has been lately!
very amazing!
*pics of 3d models on page*
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/large-planet-x-may-lurk-beyond-pluto/20080619152309990002?icid=100214839x1204178619x120 0186195