Image courtesy of ESA/Hubble,
M. Kornmesser.
Joel Kontinen
In the far
reaches of the solar system, beyond Neptune, exists a cluster of icy
celestial objects known as extreme trans-Neptunian object that move in
unexpected ways. Some astronomers think these objects are responding to the
gravitational pull of a yet-unobserved planet, known as Planet Nine, which orbits the sun very far away.
According to
evolution, ”the new discovery of an exoplanet named HD 106906 b could help
explain how a planet could get kicked to the far edges of the solar system
without being ejected altogether, according to researchers with the Hubble
Space Telescope.”
Here’s how
scientist explain the matter: “The exoplanet formed
quite close to its stars, even closer than Earth is to the sun. Over time,
though, drag caused the exoplanet's orbit to decay, which would have pulled it
even closer to its host stars. Instead of colliding into them, though, the
complex gravity of the pair of stars would have kicked the
exoplanet into a new orbit, this one taking it far into space.”
But this is science fiction, not
science fact.
Source:
Pappas, Stephanie, 2020. 'Planet
Nine' cousin found Live
Science 14 December.
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