Two as yet unknown and undiscovered planets may exist beyond the orbit of Pluto and Neptune. Astrophysicists from the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain and the University of Cambridge in Britain are the first to offer proof that other planets exist in Earth’s solar system.
The thirteen objects that have been observed to move between the planets Neptune and Pluto do not follow pathways or orbits that are predicted by the standard model of the solar system that includes Earth. The paths of the objects indicate that some body is exerting enough gravitational attraction to alter their movements. The researchers propose that at least two unknown planets explain the behavior of the small bodies that move between Neptune and Pluto.
The researchers admit that they are far from absolute proof that other planets exist in our solar system. There is evidence of similar behavior in a dwarf planet called 2012 VP113 in the Oort cloud, just beyond our solar system. The activity of recently formed planets around the star HL Tauri also confirms the suspected presence of new planets. Recent birth of planets is a relative term and could mean a few billion years.
The International Astronomical Union declared Pluto to no longer be a planet on August 24, 2006. Pluto did not meet the most recent definition of a planet and only five percent of the astronomers in the world participated in demoting Pluto. The new research may revolutionize the solar system and astronomy if or when the new planets are seen. The orbits could be so far away and take so much time that no man has lived long enough to see the new planets yet.
