The mysterious Planet Nine might be more exotic than initially presented by astronomers. Tracing facts about the new-found planet, Planet Nine is being speculated by experts as a rogue world captured by the Solar System. It is not yet known though where the planet might have originated if it is found out to be an ejected world.
The study about new planets being discovered is well underway. There are still a lot of details yet to be discovered about the Planet Nine which is previously announced for its discovery in January 2015. This putative planet that is theorized by some scientists to be lurking unseen beyond the orbit of Pluto is now claimed by astronomers to have been caught by the Solar System sometime in the past. Its mysterious disappearances from spying telescopes are reportedly making it difficult for scientists to conclude details about the Planet Nine. Yet its sudden emergence last year is making astronomers believe that it might have been a part of another galaxy but got ejected from its orbit.
A new study revolving around the Planet Nine is led by author James Vesper of the New Mexico State University (NMSU). He shared his hypothesis about the new world saying that it is plausible that the newly discovered planet is a captured rogue. He delivered the statement during the 229th American Astronomical Society in Grapevine meeting in Texas.
Vesper along with his mentor Paul Mason reportedly performed computer simulations with 156 encounters between the solar system and the rogue planets within it. As noted by Inverse, a rogue planet with a mass larger than the planet Jupiter might have a relative impact on the galaxy where it is caught. However, Planet Nine seems to be in proper order as of late.
Vesper revealed that there might be number of rogue planets floating around the Milky Way. Several studies support the claim saying rogue planets attracted by a host star might outnumber the normal worlds like the eight known planets of the Solar System. Simulations done by Vesper and his mentor suggest that about 60 percent of the encounters reveal that rogue planets would later be flung out of the solar system. When such happens, most of the time another rogue planet is captured as the previous one is being kicked out.
However, 10 percent of all cases reveal that a rogue planet will take along with it at least a planet from the solar system as it departs the host star. There is also a 40 percent possibility that the rogue will end up sticking with the solar system. A soft capture then happens where no original planet should be ejected. However, Vesper said that what should be the case will all depend on the characteristic of the rogue planet.
According to the CBS News, the Planet Nine is approximately 10 to 20 times larger than the mass of the Earth, where Neptune is only about 17 times larger. It is also estimated to take 15,000 years to circle around the sun. As Planet Nine is reportedly 50 billion miles away from the sun, such details are difficult to confirm. Following these and more other discoveries about the world, Vesper said that Planet Nine is consistent with the orbit of a captured rogue hence the speculation that it is a rogue world.
New simulations though tell otherwise, saying that the results do not prove anything about the roots of the supposed rogue planet. Some astronomers are then claiming that Planet Nine is native to the solar system. Still, some others believe that the Planet Nine was ripped by the sun away from its original star during a close stellar encounter that might have happened a long time ago.
