The potential discovery of a new dwarf planet, 2017OF201, may provide fresh insights into the elusive Planet Nine theory and the structure of the Kuiper Belt.
A team of scientists at the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Natural Sciences in Princeton, New Jersey, has announced the potential discovery of a new dwarf planet, which could lend support to the theory of a theoretical super-planet known as Planet Nine.
The object, designated 2017OF201, is classified as a trans-Neptune object (TNO), which refers to minor planets that orbit the Sun at distances greater than that of Neptune. Located on the fringes of our solar system, 2017OF201 stands out due to its significant size and unusual orbital characteristics.
Led by researchers Sihao Cheng, Jiaxuan Li, and Eritas Yang from Princeton University, the team utilized advanced computational methods to track the object’s distinctive trajectory in the night sky. Cheng noted that the aphelion, or the farthest point in the orbit from the Sun, of 2017OF201 is more than 1,600 times that of Earth’s orbit. In contrast, its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, is 44.5 times that of Earth’s orbit, a pattern reminiscent of Pluto’s orbit.
2017OF201 takes approximately 25,000 years to complete a single orbit around the Sun. Yang suggested that the object likely experienced close encounters with a giant planet, which may have resulted in its ejection to a wide orbit. Cheng elaborated on this idea, proposing that the object might have initially been expelled to the Oort Cloud, the most distant region of our solar system, before being drawn back toward the Sun.
This discovery has important implications for our understanding of the outer solar system’s structure. In January 2016, astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) presented research suggesting the existence of a planet approximately 1.5 times the size of Earth, located in the outer solar system. However, the existence of this so-called Planet Nine remains theoretical, as neither Batygin nor Brown has directly observed the planet.
According to the theory, Planet Nine is thought to be roughly the size of Neptune and located far beyond Pluto, in the vicinity of the Kuiper Belt, where 2017OF201 was discovered. If it exists, Planet Nine could possess a mass up to ten times that of Earth and orbit the Sun from a distance up to 30 times greater than that of Neptune. It is estimated that this hypothetical planet would take between 10,000 and 20,000 Earth years to complete one full orbit around the Sun.
Previously, the region beyond the Kuiper Belt was believed to be largely empty. However, the discovery of 2017OF201 suggests that this area may be more populated than previously thought. Cheng remarked that only about 1% of 2017OF201’s orbit is currently visible to astronomers.
“Even though advances in telescopes have enabled us to explore distant parts of the universe, there is still a great deal to discover about our own solar system,” Cheng stated in the announcement.
Nasa has indicated that if Planet Nine does exist, it could help explain the peculiar orbits of certain smaller objects within the distant Kuiper Belt. As it stands, the existence of Planet Nine remains largely theoretical, with its potential presence inferred from gravitational patterns observed in the outer solar system.
This latest discovery underscores the ongoing quest to understand the complexities of our solar system and the potential for finding new celestial bodies that may reshape our understanding of its structure.
According to Fox News, the implications of 2017OF201’s discovery could be significant for future research into the outer solar system.