Is there an undiscovered planet in our solar system ?
The discovery images of 2012 VP113, which has the most distant orbit known in our Solar System. Three images of the night sky, each taken about 2 hours apart, were combined into one. The first image was artificially colored red, second green and third blue. 2012 VP113 moved between each image as seen by the red, green and blue dots. The background stars and galaxies did not move and thus their red, green and blue images combine to show up as white sources.
Credit: Scott S. Sheppard: Carnegie Institution for Science
Astronomers have discovered a new dwarf planet in our own solar system and it might not be alone.
Known as 2012 VP113, the new dwarf planet is thought to be 450km wide and exists in a distant orbit twice as far from the Sun as Pluto. It is the second such body ( the other being Sedna ) to be found within this cold and desolate region of our solar system.
"We thought Pluto was unique for over 70 years, but we now know that it shares its orbit with thousands of other objects," said astronomer Scott Sheppard. "Sedna was unique for about 10 years but it's now clear that Sedna and 2012 VP113 are just the tip of the iceberg."
These images show the discovery of the new inner Oort cloud object 2012 VP113 taken about 2 hours apart on UT November 5, 2012. The motion of 2012 VP113 clearly stands out compared to the steady state background stars and galaxies.
The discovery of this new body however has come with some intriguing indications that there could be something a lot larger lurking in the outer solar system. Astronomers observing the orbits of these distant bodies have found that they seem to align in such a way so as to suggest the presence of another much larger world around 10 times the size of the Earth.
"It is possible that some undiscovered large object out there is doing this," said Mike Brown who co-founded Sedna. "But there are likely many other explanations, too, most of them sadly more mundane."
For several decades, astronomers have divided our solar system into three main parts: an inner zone containing the rocky planets, such as Earth and Mars; a middle realm housing the gas giants Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune; and an outer region called the Kuiper Belt, populated by distant and icy worlds like Pluto.
Planet X?
Astronomers don't know much about the origin or evolutionary history of Sedna and 2012 VP113 at this point. The objects may have formed closer to the sun, for example, before getting pushed out by gravitational interactions with other stars — perhaps "sister stars" from the sun's birth cluster, researchers said. Or inner Oort Cloud objects may be alien bodies that the sun plucked from another solar system during a stellar close encounter.
It's also possible that 2012 VP113 and its neighbors were knocked from the Kuiper Belt to the inner Oort Cloud when a big planet was booted outward long ago. This planet may have been ejected from the solar system entirely, or it may still be there in the extreme outer reaches, waiting to be discovered.
Astronomers are discovering trans-Neptunian objects belonging to the Oort Cloud, the most distant region of Earth's solar system.
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