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/sci/ - Science & Math

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7913821 No.7913821 [Reply] [Original]

French astronomers might have halved the search area for Planet Nine.

https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/closing-in-on-planet-9
>J. L.: Our method is actually entirely different from that used by the Caltech researchers and it is based on a different set of observational data. As I said, our work relied on a model called INPOP (link is external), which was developed as early as 2003. This model integrates nearly 150,000 observations of planets and asteroids of the Solar System. It enables us to establish ephemerides that can predict, at any given moment, the position of the various bodies of the Solar System, taking into account their mutual gravitational interactions. These ephemerides are so accurate that they can determine the exact distance between Saturn and the Earth at any time, with a margin of error of a mere 75 meters! To test the possibility that a ninth planet of approximately 10 Earth masses might lurk in the Solar System, we entered it into the dynamic INPOP model, using the parameters, and possible configurations suggested by Batygin and Brown. We then recalculated the ephemerides obtained for Saturn in each of these configurations. By comparing these ephemerides to data collected by the Cassini spacecraft (link is external)since 2004 on the actual position of Saturn, we were able to determine that some positions of Planet 9 considerably increased the margin of error of the INPOP model, while others reduced it. Since INPOP has already proved its reliability, we inferred that planet 9 could not be located in zones that would significantly increase the model’s current margin of error. Besides, it is more likely that this planet would be located where its presence reduces this margin.

>> No.7913824
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7913824

>>7913821
>J. L.: Our most reliable result concerns exclusion zones, where the presence of Planet 9 is impossible because the gap between the actual positions of Saturn and those calculated by INPOP would be too wide. The research of Batygin and Brown gave a few constraints on the inclination of the orbit of Planet 9, in contrast to the ecliptic plane, but none in terms of its position on this orbit in relation to the other planets. This means that you would have had to look in all directions over 360° to have a chance to observe it. Yet our calculations made it possible to reduce this angle of possible directions down to 180°. And within this scope, we are able to outline an area covering some 20° where the presence of the planet is most probable. We should also keep in mind that by widening the dataset from the Cassini spacecraft, we could further downsize the possible search area: for example, by extending its mission—scheduled to end in 2017—to 2020, the observation window could be cut from 180° to 120°. We also hope to refine our estimations with soon-to-be-available data from the Juno probe (link is external) on the position of Jupiter, although its size and relative distance from planet 9 make it less sensitive to gravitational perturbations.

>> No.7913844
File: 54 KB, 500x444, british survey.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7913844

>>7913821
Too bad he'll be living under Sharia shortly

>> No.7913859

The name is Thing 1.

>> No.7914850

>>7913844
>France
>British survey

>> No.7915191
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7915191

>>7914850
>France
>Britain
>same continent

>> No.7916423

Even if they do find it we'll all be long dead before a space probe even gets there.

>> No.7917393

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/03080928-planet-nine-update.html

In the paper, Malhotra points out that because the orbits of the extremely distant Kuiper belt objects like Sedna, 2010 GB174, 2004 VN112, 2012 VP113, and 2013 GP136 are so eccentric, then they are likely to have had close encounters with the putative planet. Close encounters with a massive planet change orbits of smaller worlds. It's relatively easy for small worlds, so tenuously connected to the Sun, to get ejected from the solar system entirely. If there is an undiscovered distant planet affecting their orbits, the fact that the little worlds still remain in our solar system means either that they've had relatively few encounters, or else they're protected from close encounters with the planet by being in resonances. This is how Pluto is still a member of our solar system even though its orbit crosses Neptune's: because Pluto orbits the Sun twice for every three times Neptune does, Pluto and Neptune are never actually close to each other, so Neptune doesn't get a chance to eject Pluto.

Armed with this hypothesis, Malhotra, Volk, and Wang investigated whether the worlds we know about could be in resonances with the one that Batygin and Brown suggested. In short, they can. It's complicated because we have short observational arcs on these distant, slow-moving worlds, so the analysis has to include a detailed understanding of the uncertainties on the worlds' orbits. The analysis suggests that Sedna's orbital period is in a 3:2 resonance with the putative planet; 2010 GB174 in a 5:2; 2994 VN112 in a 3:1 resonance; 2004 VP113 in 4:1; and 2013 GP136 in 9:1.

>> No.7917449
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7917449

>a ninth planet of approximately 10 Earth masses
What motivates the assumption of a single P9 and its mass? What about the influence of P10 and P11?

>Thing 1
That's the Sun's binary companion.

>> No.7917729

>>7917449
>What motivates the assumption of a single P9 and its mass?

Half a year of simulations in a super computer?