New theory challenges existence of unseen Planet Nine
The existence of the hypothetical Planet Nine, believed to be lurking on the fringes of our solar system, is being questioned by new astrophysical research. This comes after extensive searches have failed to provide any concrete evidence of its presence. The unusual orbits observed in the outer solar system, previously attributed to this elusive planet, could instead be the result of an alien star's gravitational influence billions of years ago.
Alien star's gravitational influence on outer solar system
The research suggests that an alien star, although not present now, might have passed close enough to our solar system billions of years ago. Its gravitational pull could have disrupted the orbits of objects in the outer solar system, leading to their peculiar trajectories. Some of these objects may have been drawn closer to the Sun, and are now seen as strange moons captured by giant planets.
Research team used simulations to study stellar effects
The research was conducted by a team of astrophysicists led by Susanne Pfalzner from Forschungszentrum Julich in Germany. They used computer simulations to study the effects of stars with varying masses and distances on the outer solar system. Astrophysicist Amith Govind explained, "The best match for today's outer Solar System that we found with our simulations is a star that was slightly lighter than our Sun - about 0.8 solar masses."
The star passed at a distance of 16.5 billion kilometers
Govind further revealed that this star flew past our Sun at a distance of around 16.5 billion kilometers, roughly 110 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. This is slightly less than four times Neptune's distance, our outermost planet. The team conducted over 3,000 simulations to reach this conclusion, comparing their results with known eccentric orbits of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) clusters.
Stellar flyby could explain strange orbits and moon types
The team's simulations suggest that a stellar flyby could have caused the unusual orbits of objects like 2008 KV42 and 2011 KT19, which orbit in the opposite direction to the planets. Simon Portegies Zwart from Leiden University in the Netherlands, stated that "some of these objects could have been captured by the giant planets as moons." This theory offers a potential explanation for why our solar system's outer planets have two different types of moons.
