Recently, it was announced that astronomers have found evidence that points to a ninth planet in our Solar System.
If you discount Pluto, which had its planet status removed, then this will be the first planet we've found since Neptune in 1846. So why has it taken so long?
How Stuff Works has given some explanation. Even though the so-called Planet Nine is massive, around 5,000 times bigger than Pluto, we still haven't observed it yet.
We have to take into account the sheer size of the Solar System, and realize that actually observing something without a lot of mathematical calculation is incredibly unlikely. In addition, since Planet Nine is so far away from the sun, the light that falls on it is around 300,000 times weaker than the sunlight we get. This makes it even harder to spot with a telescope.
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If you discount Pluto, which had its planet status removed, then this will be the first planet we've found since Neptune in 1846. So why has it taken so long?
How Stuff Works has given some explanation. Even though the so-called Planet Nine is massive, around 5,000 times bigger than Pluto, we still haven't observed it yet.
We have to take into account the sheer size of the Solar System, and realize that actually observing something without a lot of mathematical calculation is incredibly unlikely. In addition, since Planet Nine is so far away from the sun, the light that falls on it is around 300,000 times weaker than the sunlight we get. This makes it even harder to spot with a telescope.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...