The mysterious ‘Planet Nine’ might be the reason for a tilt in our solar system.
Astronomers presented new research explaining the inclination of the planetary system relative to the solar equator, explained by the presence of Planet Nine.
Above, image credit Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
2 groups of Astronomers are proposing that Planet 9 is the reason for a tilt in our solar system. The hypothetical planet gets a lot of action, causing Sun’s strange tilt.
Credit Caltech
The mysterious planet is big and has an orbit tilted compared to other planets.
According to Planet Nine predictors Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown of Caltech:
“Because Planet Nine is so massive and has an orbit tilted compared to the other planets, the solar system has no choice but to slowly twist out of alignment.”
The six-degree obliquity of the sun suggests that either an asymmetry was present in the solar system’s formation environment, or an external torque has misaligned the angular momentum vectors of the sun and the planets.
via earthsky
source arxiv.org
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