Researchers suggest that "at least two" planets lie beyond Pluto
(AFP Photo/)
[From article]
The official list of planets in our star system runs to eight, with gas giant Neptune the outermost.
Beyond Neptune, Pluto was relegated to the status of "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, although it is still championed by some as the most distant planet from the Sun.
In a study published in the latest issue of the British journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers propose that "at least two" planets lie beyond Pluto.
Their calculations are based on the unusual orbital behaviour of very distant space rocks called extreme trans-Neptunian objects, or ETNOs.
[. . .]
"This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution" of the ETNOs, said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid.
"The exact number is uncertain, given that the data 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," the Spanish scientific news agency Sinc quoted him as saying.
[. . .]
So far, there is no direct evidence to substantiate the theory.
http://news.yahoo.com/two-more-planets-solar-system-astronomers-134043845.html
Two more planets in our Solar System, say astronomers
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By Richard Ingham
January 19, 2015
[From article]
The official list of planets in our star system runs to eight, with gas giant Neptune the outermost.
Beyond Neptune, Pluto was relegated to the status of "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, although it is still championed by some as the most distant planet from the Sun.
In a study published in the latest issue of the British journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers propose that "at least two" planets lie beyond Pluto.
Their calculations are based on the unusual orbital behaviour of very distant space rocks called extreme trans-Neptunian objects, or ETNOs.
[. . .]
"This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution" of the ETNOs, said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid.
"The exact number is uncertain, given that the data 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," the Spanish scientific news agency Sinc quoted him as saying.
[. . .]
So far, there is no direct evidence to substantiate the theory.
http://news.yahoo.com/two-more-planets-solar-system-astronomers-134043845.html
Two more planets in our Solar System, say astronomers
January 19, 2015
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