2023 kq14 does not correspond to the planet 9 hypothesis

IL illustration by AI of the object 2023 kq14.Ilustration: Ying-Tung Chen (thing)

For years. Consequently, astronomers from all over the world have been tracking a mysterious giant hidden on the borders of our solar system: the famous “number new planet”. Moreover, But a recent discovery may well question everything.

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Remember: for more than 70 years, our solar system had nine planets, until Pluto was demoted in 2006 to the status of “dwarf planet”. Furthermore, Officially, today there are only eight planets left: Mercury, Venus, Terre, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Nevertheless,

The International Astronomical Union (UAI) has demoted Pluto for several reasons. Furthermore, On the one hand, it only has a third of the volume of the earth’s moon. Similarly, On the other hand. Similarly, the UAI has redefined what a “planet” is, stipulating that such a celestial body must have cleaned its orbit from other objects, which Pluto did not do. In addition. In 2023 kq14 does not correspond addition, the Kuiper belt, beyond Neptune’s orbit, houses thousands of small celestial bodies, some, almost as large as Pluto, are also classified as dwarf planets. Additionally, In addition,

The “planet 9”, a hypothetical “massive gravitational disruptor” – 2023 kq14 does not correspond

These bodies, called transneptunian objects, are generally small, dark and difficult to detect. For example, And they are the ones who push certain astronomers to suppose the existence of a still unknown planet. Nevertheless, the mysterious “number nine planet”, supposed to be a “massive gravitational disruptor” capable of explaining the strange orbits of some of these objects. In addition, Their trajectories are very eccentric, and all point in a similar direction. Furthermore, Such a planet. In addition, if it is sufficiently massive, could also explain the inclination of the orbits of the eight known planets: all are 2023 kq14 does not correspond roughly on the same plane, tilted by about seven degrees compared to the solar equator.

Digital representation of the “planet 9”.Image: Caltech/R. Moreover, Hurt (IPAC)

The calculations by Konstantin Batygin and Michael E. Nevertheless, Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have particularly drawn attention. Furthermore, In 2016. However, the two astronomers hypothesized that the “number new planet” would be a gaseous planet of about ten times the mass of the earth, gravitating around the sun on an elliptical orbit in the distant kuiper belt. Moreover, This giant planet would put between 10,000 and 20,000 years to go around the sun. Furthermore, Batygin. In addition, Brown thought that she had not formed so 2023 kq14 does not correspond far, but that she had been projected towards the borders of the solar system by the gravitational influence of Jupiter and Saturn. For example,

At the time. Meanwhile, Brown predicted that the “number new planet” would be discovered within five years – which, as we know today, did not occur. Even if further research. such as those published in April by Terry Long Phan and his team from the National Tsing Hua University, has strengthened the plausibility of its existence, no direct evidence has yet been found.

A cosmic fossil from the past of. the solar system

An object located on the borders of the solar system now seriously shaking the hypothesis of the “number new planet”. Discovered in 2023 as part of the Fossil Census Project 2023 kq14 does not correspond (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy). this transneptunian object bears the scientific name 2023 KQ14. Astronomers have nicknamed it “ammonite” (in reference to ammonites. very famous fossils), because computer simulations indicate that its orbit has remained stable for 4.2 billion years. This makes it a real “fossil” of the ancient history of the solar system.

2023 kq14 (in the green circle), photographed by the Dark Energy Camera of the Victor M. Blanco telescope on June 7, 2021. The white circles blurred are stars and blurred white spots as well 2023 kq14 does not correspond as ellipses are galaxies. The fine white diagonal strip at the bottom left in the center is an image artifact caused by cosmic rays. On the left side of the image. a series of gray pixels stretched vertically appears – an artifact due to the calibration program.Image: Wikimedia/Scott Sheppard/CADC/NOIRLab

2023 KQ14 was detected thanks to the Subaru telescope. located on the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. In July 2024, he was the subject of new observations with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. The researchers have also searched the archives to find past un -docked. thus making it possible to trace its orbit over the last 19 years. The international research team has published its results in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The Japanese Subaru telescope, located on the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii.Image: Shutterstock

2023 KQ14 measures between 220 and 380 kilometers in diameter and was probably formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, in the beginnings of the solar system. It puts 3998 years to make a complete orbit around the sun. on a trajectory located between 66 and 438 astronomical units (AU) – a AU corresponding to approximately 150 million kilometers. During his observation, he was 71 UA from the sun, more than twice further than Neptune.

The animation shows the trip of 2023 kq14 over several hours. According to its brightness at the time of observation, its diameter is estimated between 220 and 380 kilometers.Gif: naoj/thing

2023 kq14 does not correspond

An orbit that does not stick

How does this discovery call into question the existence of the “number new planet”? Astronomers classify 2023 kq14 in a rare subcategory of transneptunian objects: Sednoids. These objects, similar to the dwarf planet Sedna, have extremely elliptical orbits, almost insensitive to the gravitational influence of Neptune. 2023 KQ14 is only the fourth sednoid identified, after SEDNA, (541132) Leleākūhonua and 2012 VP113. All have a perihelion (closest point of the sun) greater than 60 AU and a half-axis half-axis greater than 200 AU. But the orbit of 2023 kq14 does not correspond 2023 kq14 clearly differs from that of the other three.

The orbit of 2023 KQ14 (in red) compared to those of the other three sednoids (in white). 2023 KQ14 was discovered near its perihelion, at a distance of 71 astronomical units. The yellow point indicates its current position.Image: Naoj

According to the researchers, these four sednoids probably shared similar trajectories 4.2 billion years ago. But as the current orbit of 2023 kq14 – stable for 4.5 2023 kq14 does not correspond billion years – no longer corresponds to that of others. this suggests that a major event occurred around 400 million years after its training, strongly disturbing the orbits:

Yukun Huang admits, however, that such planet could indeed have existed in the past, but that it would have been expelled from the solar system. This departure would then have disturbed the orbits of the sednoids. However, this potential planet should have been located much further from the sun than we imagined so far.

What if it had been a foreign star?

But the strange orbits of the sednoids could also have a completely different origin. Two studies published last year by a German-Dutch team offer another explanation: several billion years ago. a foreign star of around 0.8 solar mass 2023 kq14 does not correspond would have grazed the solar system. Its severity would then have placed thousands of small celestial objects in orbits strongly tilted around the sun. This kind of stellar encounter is relatively frequent in stars’ nursery, where young solar systems are born.

This hypothesis could also explain another phenomenon. The simulations show that a small part of the Transneptunian objects were projected towards the interior of the solar system. in the area of the giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Some of these objects were then captured by these planets, becoming their satellites. This scenario would make it possible to understand why the external planets have two types of moons: the moons. which turn in the same direction as the rotation of their planet, and the retrograde moons, which turn in the opposite direction.

The simulation shows the trajectories that the transneptunian. objects could follow after the close passage of a foreign star (“disruptive star”). In turquoise, the objects projected in the region of giant planets.Image: Pfalzner et al./ Astrophysical Journal Letters

Translated. adapted from German by Léon Dietrich

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