California Institute of Technology spokesman Mike Brown said the new planet is larger than Pluto, which has a diameter of about 2,250 km, and is twice as far from the Sun. According to scientists, the distance to it is now 97 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The planet revolves around the Sun in approximately ten and a half thousand Earth years. And the orbital radius is 130 billion kilometers.
The object has not yet received an official name, but the discoverers are temporarily calling it 2003 UB313 or Sednaya - in honor of the sea deity of the Eskimo Inuit tribe.
The new planet was discovered by Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.
In an interview with the BBC, Rabinowitz said: "This is an amazing day and an amazing year. 2003 UB313 is probably bigger than Pluto. It's less bright than Pluto, but it's three times as far away as it is. If only it were at the same distance as Pluto, then it would be brighter than it. Now the world knows that there are other Plutos that are located on the outskirts of the solar system, where they are difficult to find."
The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory, as well as the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii.
"The spectral samples obtained from Gemini are particularly interesting because they indicate that the surface of this planet is very similar to the surface of Pluto," said Chad Trujillo. It is composed mainly of rocks and ice.
2003 UB313's orbit is unlike those of other planets, possibly due to the influence of Neptune. Astronomers believe that at some point in the planet's history, Neptune's gravitational influence threw it into an orbit rotated 44 degrees to the ecliptic plane.
The new cosmic body was first noticed on October 21, 2003, but then scientists did not suspect that it was moving. Fifteen months later, in January 2005, telescopes were unable to detect it at the same point in the sky. Researchers say they tried to locate the planet using the Spitzer Space Telescope, which detects infrared light, but were unable to find it. From this it was concluded that the object was moving.
The upper limit of observational error under these conditions is 3 thousand km, which means that the diameter of the planet cannot be greater than this figure, scientists say. And even the lowest limit of observational error makes the new planet a larger celestial body than Pluto.
However, if the diameter of the cosmic body turns out to be only about 2 thousand km, the discovered object will fall from the category of planets under the definition of “planetoid”.
However, the celestial body presumably has its own satellite. This explains the extremely long period of rotation of the find around its axis - from 20 to 50 days.
As Brown explained, 2003 UB313 will be visible in telescopes over the next six months in the constellation Cetus. He also admitted that scientists hoped to first double-check all the data and then only make the discovery public, but there was a leak of information. Previously, the Spaniards named the discovered cosmic body 2003 EL61, and the Americans - K40506A.
As BBC science commentator David Whitehouse points out, since the discovery of Neptune in 1846, this planet has become the largest celestial body discovered by astronomers in the solar system.
According to the UFO Research Information Center, in the coming years a planet inhabited by intelligent creatures will emerge from behind the Sun. The director of the center, Valery Uvarov, assumes that contact will take place, and prepares in advance for a meeting with another civilization, answering tricky questions.
According to the latest information, there is still life on Mars. To be completely precise, it was approximately 12-13 thousand years ago. In any case, this is exactly the conclusion that scientists from the center came to. It is difficult to say how events would have developed further if one fine day or night, you can’t say for sure, the satellite of the red planet had not left its orbit. Whether he collided with a comet or was defeated during the Star Wars, we will only be able to know for sure after contact with an alien intelligence. It is only known that the Phaeton quickly retreated from its orbit and rushed to plow the expanses of the Galaxy along the way, exploding into thousands of small phaetons. It is impossible to describe what happened in the Universe after such an accident; all sorts of cataclysms haunted ordinary inhabitants from all the inhabited planets of the solar system. On Earth, all the continents began to crack, what could have become mixed up, and something else has swapped places. The planet moved away from the Sun, its period of revolution increased, and if earlier the earth’s calendar was 360 days, today it is five days more. And all this happened in a matter of minutes, a sharp instantaneous cooling led to a long ice age on Earth. According to one version, Yakutia, which was previously inhabited by mammoths and drifted in the equatorial part, is now where we are used to seeing it, and the poor animals froze with food not fully digested in their stomachs. Mars also moved away from the Sun, and life on the icy planet became impossible. People, or rather aliens, had a hard time for some time.
The disturbed balance made itself felt even in the most remote corners of the Galaxy. To save the Earth and stop further freezing; the aliens chose the only right solution. After all, so that our “ball” does not continue to roll into bottomless space, all we need is to increase its mass. Therefore, that part of the Phaeton that was preserved after the explosion was dragged towards our planet for balance; We have an artificial satellite - the Moon. And with it, people had a wonderful opportunity to sigh languidly and write down lyrical poems one after another.
Of course, the Martians themselves had to urgently move to another planet. Until recently, we did not have any reliable data indicating their location. There was, however, one planet that aroused suspicion, which either disappeared or reappeared in the field of view of terrestrial astronomers, and so, according to Valery Uvarov, it was there that the inhabitants from Mars moved. The first information about it dates back to the 17th century, it was observed by Giovanni Cassni, a professor at the Paris Observatory, in 1666. Then the planet, named by the scientist Gloria, disappeared until 1672.
And quite recently, at the end of the last century, our compatriot, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Kirill Butusov, was able to mathematically prove the presence of another planet in the solar system: it is located in the same orbit as the Earth, in the direct opposite direction from the Sun. But it can be observed once every thirteen years due to cyclical fluctuations. The nature of the vibrations is also unclear and suggests that Gloria, like the Moon, was created artificially and deliberately hidden from the prying eyes of humans. This is also evidenced by Gloria’s instability relative to the Earth and the Sun. If we collide with some cosmic body or a large meteorite crashes into the Earth, we will, of course, have a hard time, but the “anti-Earth” risks leaving orbit altogether. Therefore, it is not only beneficial, but also vitally important for Glorians to keep our world completely safe.
Diagram of the possible location of Gloria relative to the Earth, as well as artificial satellites for exploring the space behind the Sun. The numbers indicate: 1 - Sun; 2 - solar corona; 3 - Earth; 4 - Earth's orbit; 5, 6 - straight lines, limiting the sector of our view from the Earth; 7 - the arc of the Earth’s orbit, covered by the solar corona, along which it makes sense to look for Gloria; 8 - straight line showing the boundary of the view from an artificial satellite; 9 - arc on which satellites with repeaters should be located
How do they do it?
The clearest example of the care of our brothers in mind, according to Valery Uvarov, was demonstrated in 1908, when our planet was threatened by the Tunguska meteorite. For many years, there were fierce debates about this: one body was approaching the Earth, but, as eyewitnesses said, along different trajectories, and it is also unknown why there were several explosions, and the fragments could not be found. But, apparently, today humanity is closer to solving this mystery than ever.
Scientists explain the complexity of this phenomenon by the fact that “several objects participated in the event. In addition to the meteorite, there were also some energy balls” sent by some installation to intercept and destroy the Tunguska body. The installation itself is located in the north-west of Yakutia, in the Upper Vilyuy region, where for hundreds of kilometers around there is nothing but forest falls, stone debris and traces of some grandiose cataclysms.
The ancient name of this area is “Eluyu Cherkechekh”, or “Valley of Death”. It is now clear to us that the Tunguska body was blown up by aliens to maintain the immobility of the libration point of our planet, so that the Earth would remain in place and not roll towards Gloria. Previously, only local hunters knew about the existence of an extraterrestrial unit in the “Valley of Death”, making up legends about metal monsters lying deep underground, in the permafrost, so that only small metal hemispheres remained on the surface.
The Yakuts, although they did not know the fateful role of these “cauldrons” for civilization, but, don’t be fools, avoided this remote area. Here are lines from a letter from a person who visited the “Valley of Death”: “I visited there three times. I saw seven such “cauldrons”. They all seem completely mysterious to me: firstly, the size is from six to nine meters in diameter. They are made of an incomprehensible metal. It cannot be broken off or even scratched. The vegetation around the “cauldrons” is abnormal - it is not at all similar to what grows around. It is more lush, one and a half to two times taller than a person. In one such place, we spent the night in a group of six people. We didn’t feel anything bad, no one got seriously ill after, except that one of my friends lost all his hair completely, and three small sores appeared on the left side of my head (I slept on it), each about the size of a match head. I’ve had them all my life, but they haven’t gone away until today.”
In our world, there are three such installations - one of them is located underwater near the island of Crete (not working), the second is also underwater - between America and Easter Island (in full combat readiness). So, in a sense, we are lucky, our third and final installation not only works, but is also within reach.
The Vilyui complex does not work to destroy all cosmic bodies entering the Earth’s atmosphere, but only if the fall of foreign bodies flying to us from space threatens a widespread environmental disaster. This is both the effect of nuclear winter and changes in the trajectory of the planet. Even when the body may cause powerful earthquakes, floods associated with changes in the shape of the geoid are a threat to Gloria. If there is a suspicion that the falling body wants to re-infect everyone here with unknown bacteria or is aiming straight at the installation, you can be sure that in this case it will shy away - it won’t seem like much. That is why, when the Tunguska meteorite flew close enough, energy “balls” controlled by a force field fell one after another from the belly of the foreign monster. And that is why researchers of several generations cannot find the remains of the Tungussa. They simply don't exist. They were turned into dust, which was found in the form of magnetite and silicate balls scattered throughout the taiga.
Do they want to be friends with us?
Among other things, Uvarov notes that “energy installations have a so-called “energy source,” which is a system of energy information support for the activities of aliens. From these sources they draw any information both about us and about the Universe in which we all live. The frequent appearance of UFOs on Earth is connected with this, and “crop circles” are one of the confirmations of their presence.
Valery Uvarov also believes that the protective complex in the “Valley of Death” operates automatically. Most likely, the monitoring part of the installation is located on Mars, this makes it possible to monitor cosmic bodies at distant approaches to the Earth. They monitor not only natural objects, but also spaceships and satellites sent from Earth to Mars. Also, according to Uvarov, earthlings are still unwelcome guests in space. And you shouldn’t be surprised when satellites sent by people to roam endless spaces deviate from their intended orbit. This is not only a manifestation of the higher intelligence that aliens are endowed with, but also the only possible evidence of reluctance to make close acquaintances in outer space.
Then the disappearance of Phobos-1, a satellite launched in 1988, which could capture the planet behind the Sun, becomes understandable. The fate of Phobos-2, which witnessed activity on Mars, is similar. Is it true. "F-2" still managed to get pictures of the approaching object, after which it deviated from the specified trajectory. Another proof that there is life on Gloria can be comets that fly behind the Sun, but do not appear back, as if Gloritian spaceships are returning to base.
But the strangest event in recent memory is the 1956 comet Roland-Arend. This is the first comet whose radiation was received by radio astronomers. When comet Roland-Arend appeared from behind the Sun, a transmitter in its tail, at a wave of about 30 meters, began to work in an unimaginable way - strange, but true. Then he switched to a wave of half a meter, separated from the comet and moved back behind the Sun. It is still not clear what kind of transmitter it was and who flew with it beyond the Sun. The comets (maybe they weren’t comets at all, but UFOs), which flew around all the planets known to us as if on an inspection, did not go unnoticed by earthly astronomers. Earthly technologies do not yet allow us to accomplish anything that would even remotely resemble the flight of these “comets.”
Since we declared the slogan, considering all phenomena in the world without cliches and restrictions of worldviews from science, religion and politics, then why don’t you and I look for evidence of this intriguing topic?
The idea of searching for a double of our planet - Gloria, unknown to us yet - comes from the priests of Ancient Egypt. According to their ideas, people at birth were endowed not only with a soul, but also with a certain astral double, which then in the Christian religion turned into a guardian angel.
Over time, this idea was indirectly reflected in the teachings of the ancient Greek Philolaus, who placed in the center of the universe not the Earth, as his predecessors did, but a certain central fire - Hestnu, around which all other celestial bodies revolved, including the Sun, which performed as if the role of a mirror, reflecting the rays of the central fire, spreading them throughout the Universe.
Moreover, according to Philolaus’s idea, just as in nature everyone is accustomed to forming pairs, so similar formations should exist in the sky. Moreover, he did not limit himself to calling the Moon to be Earth’s partner, but also suggested that somewhere out there, at a diametrically opposite point in the orbit, constantly hiding from our eyes behind the celestial fire, a certain Anti-Earth was rotating.
Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge... And the heavenly fire “burned out”, and our luminary the Sun moved to its place, but the thought of the existence of a twin of the Earth, no, no, will arise again. How justified is it?
Let's present all the arguments in favor, which indirectly indicate the existence of such a double...
Firstly, if it existed in reality, we really would not be able to detect it, since “gazing” towards the Sun is a very difficult task. Many astronomers have damaged their eyesight and even gone blind while trying to observe our star. And the area that it covers in the sky is sufficient for a quite decent planet to be located there...
The second consideration is based on the fact that at one time researchers for a long time were unable to pre-calculate the position of Venus in the sky - the capricious “morning star” did not want to follow the traditional laws of celestial mechanics. Some experts believe that this is only possible if the movement of Venus is affected by the gravity of another celestial body that was not taken into account in the calculations. Some people point out that Mars is also “capricious” from time to time...
Finally, thirdly, there is some evidence from astronomers of the past. For example, in the 17th century, the first director of the Paris Observatory, the famous Giovanni Domenico Cassini, shared his thoughts in favor of the existence of Gloria. (Yes, yes, the same one in whose honor the interplanetary probe recently sent to the vicinity of Saturn was named). So at one time he managed to discover a certain celestial object near Venus. Cassini thought it had discovered a moon of Venus. However, its existence has not been confirmed to this day. modern research. What if Cassini managed to notice another celestial body, namely Gloria?..
This judgment was to some extent supported in 1740 by the English astronomer and optician James Short. And 20 years later, the German astronomer-observer Tobias Johann Meyer, a man known in the scientific world for the seriousness of his judgments, spoke about the same thing. It is no coincidence that he owns very accurate lunar tables for determining longitudes at sea.
But then the body disappeared somewhere, and no one remembered about it for a long time. And here is a new surge of interest in the mythical Gloria. What is it due to? Yes, at least because if such a planet actually exists, it could be an ideal base for... UFOs. It is very convenient for ships starting from our planet’s twin to then moor to Earth; After all, they don’t need to move from orbit to orbit - it’s enough to just speed up a little or, conversely, slow down in the same orbit... But seriously, some astronomers really do not deny the possibility of the existence of a twin of our planet. “At least one other Moon is known to orbit the Earth,” they say. – And we don’t notice it only because this Moon consists of... dust and tiny meteorite fragments, which are grouped at the so-called libration point. Indeed, according to the solution to the famous problem of the stability of celestial bodies, there must be some kind of trap point nearby the Earth-Moon system, where gravitational fields will drive their prey.”
Similarly, for the Sun-Earth system there should also be such a point, as well as for the Sun-Mars, Sun-Venus systems, etc. In general, dust twins of planets, in theory, are not so rare in our Solar System. It’s just that there’s not much reason to hope that our doubles live on them. Living in a cloud of dust is not very comfortable...
Gloria, or Anti-Earth, is supposedly in the same orbit as the Earth, but cannot be observed because it is constantly hidden from us by the Sun. Is it even possible for two bodies to exist in the same orbit? From observations it is clear that it is possible.
Saturn's satellite system is similar to the solar system. Each major satellite of Saturn has its own planet in the solar system. This is a clear model. So, in the Saturn system, practically in the same orbit corresponding to the Earth’s, two satellites coexist perfectly - Janus and Epithemius. One moves in an outer orbit, and the other in an inner orbit. Once every four years they come closer and exchange orbits. It turns out that the same mechanism is possible in the Earth-Anti-Earth system.
There were also visual observations. For the first time, back in the 17th century, the famous astronomer D. Cassini observed a crescent-shaped object near Venus. He mistook it for a satellite of Venus. Then, in 1740, this object was observed by Short, in 1759 by Mayer, in 1761 by Montaigne, and in 1764 by Rotkier. After this, the object was not observed. Perhaps, swaying around the libration point, the object from time to time emerges from behind the Solar disk and becomes available for observation.
Also in the movement of Venus and Mars there are some anomalies that are easily explained if we assume that the Earth has a twin. The fact is that these planets, as they move in their orbits, either advance or lag behind the calculated time. Moreover, in those moments when Mars is ahead of schedule, Venus is behind it, and vice versa.
There are quite bold hypotheses about the existence of a highly developed civilization on Gloria, which is our ancestor. But things haven’t gone further than fantasies yet. The very possibility of Gloria's existence is still in question.
One of the adherents of the theory about the existence of the planet Gloria is the famous Russian astrophysicist, Professor Kirill Pavlovich Butusov.
Reference:
Butusov Kirill Pavlovich – physicist, astronomer, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. Works at St. Petersburg University. Developed the theory of cyclicity of solar activity (1958). He discovered a number of structural patterns in the structure of the Solar system, and in 1985 he made a forecast of a number of undiscovered satellites of Uranus, which was later confirmed. He discovered the manifestation of the “golden section” in the distribution of parameters of bodies in the Solar System. A number of discoveries and hypotheses allow us to rank him among the luminaries of Russian science.
The most interesting conclusion from Butusov’s theory is the hypothesis of the existence of Anti-Earth. The identified patterns indicate that there should be another unknown planet in Earth’s orbit.
More than half a century in astronomy and physics has been completely quiet. Wherever you turn, there is a triumph of the ideas of Bohr, Heisenberg and Einstein. It's time for naturalists to fall into melancholy and, over a bottle of port, complain that everything in the world has long been studied and discovered. However, if you talk for at least half an hour with an astronomer, a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, and now an associate professor of the Department of Physics of the Academy civil aviation Kirill Butusov, you will probably believe in miracles again.
Kirill Butusov began pondering the mysteries of the universe from the first days of work at the Pulkovo Observatory, where he was assigned in 1954 after graduating from the Polytechnic Institute. Just 4 years later, the young scientist boldly opened the door to the director’s office and laid out sketches of his own theory of solar activity on the table of the head of the observatory, Academician Mikhailov.
As he studied the materials, the master’s face became increasingly gloomy. These theories perfectly matched the observational data. The sun behaved exactly as the yellow-haired employee predicted. And only after seeing the divergence of the curves at a distance of 100 years in the past, Mikhailov became cheerful and moved the papers away from him. In response to Butusov’s request to allow him to access the computer to facilitate cumbersome calculations, the academician only waved his hands: “What are you talking about, my friend, the machine is one hundred percent loaded with scheduled calculations.”
That was the end of the matter. And five years later, American scientists published exactly the same work in a scientific journal, and the priority was lost.
The first bitter experience taught the young employee a lot. He realized that the winner is the one who fights for his ideas to the end and does not pay attention to the skepticism of his colleagues.
Then Butusov began to find out the reason for the discrepancy in his theory, and... with experimental data and look for new patterns in the solar system. In the end, the astronomer developed the “Wave Cosmogony of the Solar System,” which explains the mysteries of the birth of planets, the features of their orbits and predicts many absolutely incredible things. In 1987, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on this work.
One of the most interesting conclusions from Butusov’s theory is the hypothesis of the existence of an Anti-Earth. The identified patterns indicate that there should be another unknown planet in Earth’s orbit.
For example, in the Saturn system, in an orbit corresponding to the Earth, two satellites rotate at once - Epimetheus and Janus. Once every four years they come closer, but do not collide, but change places.
But, if the Earth has a twin brother, why then don’t we see him in just one telescope? Butusov is convinced that the unknown planet, which he called Gloria, is hidden from us by the disk of the Sun.
“In the earth’s orbit directly behind the Sun there is a point called libration,” explains the astronomer. “This is the only place where Gloria can be.” Because the planet rotates at the same speed as the Earth, it is almost always hidden behind the Sun. Moreover, it is impossible to see it even from the Moon. To capture it, you need to fly 15 times further.
But there is one interesting point here. The libration point is considered very unstable. Even a small impact can move the planet to the side. Maybe that's why Gloria sometimes becomes visible.
So, in 1666 and 1672, the director of the Paris Observatory, Cassini, observed a crescent-shaped body near Venus and suggested that it was its satellite (now we know that Venus has no satellites). In subsequent years, many other astronomers (Short, Montel, Lagrange) saw something similar. Then the mysterious object disappeared somewhere.
More ancient sources also indirectly testify to the existence of Gloria. For example, a wall painting in the tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses VI. On it, the golden figure of a man apparently symbolizes the Sun. There are identical planets on both sides of it. Their dotted orbit passes through the third chakra. But the third planet from the sun is Earth!
If Gloria exists, then most likely there is life on it, and maybe even an advanced civilization. After all, the planet is in the same conditions as the Earth. Many cases of UFO sightings, especially during nuclear tests, could find an explanation. After all, any cataclysms on our planet pose a serious danger to Gloria. If nuclear explosions move the Earth, then the two planets will sooner or later converge, and a terrible catastrophe will occur.
The next, perhaps even more important for humanity, conclusion from Butusov’s theory is that the Sun is a double star, the same as many other stars in our galaxy. Butusov named this second star in the solar system Raja-Sun, since the first mentions of it were found in Tibetan legends. Lamas called it the “metal planet,” thereby emphasizing its enormous mass and relatively small size. It appears in our area once every 36 thousand years. And each of her visits ends in huge shocks for the Earth. It was 36,000 years ago that Neanderthal man disappeared from our planet and Cro-Magnon man appeared. Presumably, at the same time the Earth acquired a satellite (the Moon), intercepted from Mars. Before this, according to legend, there was no moon in the sky.
Butusov suggests that the Raja-Sun was ahead of our luminary in its development. Following the natural processes of stellar evolution, it passed the red giant phase and exploded, turning into a “brown dwarf”. Having lost a lot of mass, the Raja-Sun transferred the planets that revolved around it to the present Sun. Moving along a very elongated orbit, it goes far into space at a distance of more than 1100 astronomical units and becomes practically indistinguishable to modern observers. But the most unpleasant thing is that the next return of the killer star is expected in the near future. 2000 plus or minus 100 years. Most likely, Raja Sun will pass through the steroid belts between Mars and Jupiter. Perhaps these cosmic debris are all that remains of one of the planets after contact with an evil dwarf, which is 30 times more massive than Jupiter. In any case, the upcoming meeting does not bode well for earthlings.
One day Lev Gumilyov, the author of the scandalous theory of ethnogenesis and passionarity, asked Butusov to think about the causes of passionary impulses. The fact is that once every 250 years, a mysterious phenomenon occurs on the surface of the Earth within very limited limits - a certain gene mutation, as a result of which people living in a given territory acquire certain qualities. They become active, they have the ability to make extra efforts, they easily sacrifice their lives for the sake of ideals. When there are many such passionate people, a new ethnic group arises. Gumilev himself believed that this phenomenon was caused by some kind of cosmic radiation.
“When I began to think about the possible mechanisms of passionarity, I immediately came to the conclusion that the only body that can have such an effect is Pluto,” says Kirill Butusov. — Its period of revolution around the Sun is 248 years. Being located at the boundary of the Sun's magnetosphere, it can help the breakthrough of galactic cosmic particles into the Solar System. It is not for nothing that in astrology Pluto is considered the planet responsible for collective efforts, great transformations and reforms.
Everything would be fine, but one important detail could not be explained. According to Gumilev, the zones of passionary impulses had the appearance of very narrow stripes, similar to the stripes from the lunar shadow during a solar eclipse. Since cosmic radiation could not act so selectively, Butusov proposed the hypothesis of “relative passionarity.” Let’s say that at the moment of a solar eclipse, a powerful stream of particles from a solar flare hits the Earth. A mutation is occurring all over the planet, as a result of which people are becoming lazier and more inert. Against their background, those who fell into the zone of the lunar shadow will seem to us to be overly active - that is, passionate!
In general, there is no direct evidence of the existence of Gloria, but there is indirect evidence. Scientists have long predicted the accumulation of matter at libration points in Earth's orbit. One of these points is located just behind the Sun.
Well, in the dispute between supporters and opponents of the hypotheses about the existence of a twin of our Earth - Gloria, as always, time will dot the i's...
And now that we have learned the truth about almost everything, circumstances are clearly playing into our hands. In the next 13 years, the stars will align so that Gloria will appear from behind the Sun. We will finally be able to recognize the benefactors who have been “blowing away specks of dust” from our Earth for a long time, whether they want it or not. But will the long-awaited contact take place? Now the future of the planet is in the hands of every person, everyone must prove themselves as Homo sapiens. While there are still a few years left, we need to be well prepared for this meeting. After all, it depends on how long earthlings will remain on the outskirts of space. A few years, so as not to be disgraced by ignorance in the face of friends and brothers in intellect, is not so much.
ALL PHOTOS
A team of scientists led by Frank Bertoldi, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, concluded that the diameter of the object, UB313, also known as Xena, is 1,864 miles (just under 3,000 km), while Pluto's diameter is 1,429 miles, which is 700 kilometers smaller.
"Because UB313 is significantly larger than Pluto, it will become increasingly difficult to justify calling Pluto a planet without giving UB313 the same status," says Frank Bertoldi, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn and part of the team that reported on UB313's size in Nature this week.
Using the 30-meter IRAM radio telescope in Spain, Bertoldi's team examined the radio waves that UB313 emits, indicating how much solar radiation it absorbs. Because very little reflected sunlight is emitted at this wavelength, the brightness of an object at radio waves depends only on its size and surface temperature.
Due to its great distance from the Sun, the temperature of UB313 is calculated to be very low, minus 248 degrees Celsius. Bertoldi and his colleagues combined these estimates with UB313's emission measurements, determining its reflectivity and size.
Although the original 3,000-kilometer estimate may have a margin of error of 400 kilometers, UB313 is still significantly larger than Pluto, which has a diameter of 2,300 kilometers, and is the largest celestial body discovered in the solar system since the discovery of Neptune in 1846.
This cosmic body, noticed last year by scientists from the American Institute of Technology, is located among the Kuiper asteroid belt, located beyond Neptune, Interfax reports.
It is located at twice the distance from the Sun than Pluto, which was previously considered the outermost planet of our system.
The new planet, which was observed by astronomers in California and Hawaii, has the temporary name 2003 UB313. It was discovered back in 2003, but only recently was it possible to confirm that this celestial body is a planet.
As BBC science columnist David Whitehouse points out, since the discovery of Neptune in 1846, this planet has become the largest celestial body discovered by astronomers in the solar system.
The planet consists mainly of rocks and ice. Astronomers believe that at some point in the planet's history, Neptune's gravitational influence threw it into an orbit rotated 44 degrees to the ecliptic plane.
The new planet was discovered by Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory, as well as the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii.
"The spectral samples obtained from the Gemini Observatory are particularly interesting because they indicate that the surface of this planet is very similar to the surface of Pluto," said Chad Trujillo.
The planet was first discovered on October 21, 2003, but its displacement relative to the stars was noticed only 15 months later, on January 8, 2005.
Researchers say they tried to locate the planet using the Spitzer Space Telescope, which detects infrared light, but were unable to find it.
Pluto may lose its planet title
"Because UB313 is significantly larger than Pluto, it will become increasingly difficult to justify calling Pluto a planet without giving UB313 the same status," Bertoldi says.
Since 1992, more than a thousand similar, although smaller, objects have been discovered in the region of Pluto known as the Kuiper Belt. Astronomers estimate that there are still more than half a million undiscovered objects awaiting their turn. As more and more fragments of the birth of the solar system are discovered, Pluto merges with the crowd, and its claims to the title of a unique planet become less and less solid, reports Nature (text on the website Inopressa.ru).
Some astronomers believe Pluto should be stripped of its title and become a Kuiper Belt object like its orbiting cousins. Others believe that any object larger than Pluto found on the outskirts of the solar system should be called a planet, and then UB313 would fall into that category. "I would prefer that Pluto remain a planet, since that's how it's been historically," Bertoldi says.
The Astronomical Union set up a committee of 19 leading astronomers to come up with a planet definition that would either include or exclude UB313, but the committee admitted defeat in November 2005 after failing to find consensus. The union promises to find a solution this year, but Brown is already getting impatient. "Imagine how you would feel if your baby didn't have a name for seven months," he says.
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Scientists have created a real sensation - found tenth planet of the solar system.
Yes, exactly the tenth! After all, Pluto was considered the ninth planet revolving around the Sun for several generations of scientists. And although he is deprived of the status of a planet, number nine will remain with him forever.
Astronomers, after much research, have finally confirmed that beyond the Kuiper Belt there is a large celestial body, 10 times more massive than the Earth. And, most importantly, it precisely moves in a stable orbit, making one revolution around the star every 15 thousand years.
From the scientists’ report it follows that the celestial body they discovered moves along an elongated and inclined (relative to the Earth) orbit, and in its parameters it is very similar to gas giants like Uranus or Neptune. In their opinion, Planet X was knocked out of the nascent solar system more than 4 billion years ago, and therefore for a long time it was inaccessible to study. The matter is complicated by the fact that the orbit of Planet X is very elongated, so at different periods the distance between it and the Sun ranges from 200 to 1200 astronomical units.
According to the researchers themselves, they were able to discover the new planet by observing the gravitational disturbances it exerted on nearby celestial bodies. Now that it has become known exactly where to look, scientists will have the opportunity to properly configure the equipment and observe the planet through a telescope.
However, despite the high degree of reliability of the information received by astronomers, final confirmation of the existence of this celestial body will most likely take at least five years. And if the existence of Planet X is finally proven, it will join the list of planets in the Solar System. According to astronomers, the accuracy of the calculations is very high, and the possible error is no more than 0.007 percent.
However, such caution on the part of the official scientific community is quite understandable. The existence of Planet X or Nibiru (as many have already dubbed it) was purely hypothetical for many years, and this name was more exploited by various kinds of hoaxers than by scientists. The first, by the way, are still convinced that an attempt to find out more details about Planet X will entail dire consequences such as the traditional end of the world or the enslavement of earthly civilization by hostile aliens. But the scientists themselves hope that if successful they will be able to discover a mass useful information and uncover more mysteries related to the birth of the solar system.
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"It is 10 times larger than Earth and 7 times farther from the Sun than Neptune
This discovery was announced by scientists from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown. The name for the planet has not yet been invented and astronomers have simply dubbed it Planet X. However, no one has yet seen it, including the godfathers.
Planet X was discovered through mathematical analysis of the gravitational effects experienced by Kuiper belt objects. This is the region farthest from the Sun, where large quantities small and large asteroids and dwarf planets rotate. These celestial bodies remained here as construction debris after the formation of the Solar System.
“By studying the orbits of these celestial bodies, we came to the conclusion that their trajectory is clearly influenced by some hidden giant,” said Brown. “Having compiled a computer model, we calculated the parameters of the invisible planet.
In principle, this is a common thing in astronomy. In much the same way, scientists predicted the existence of Uranus and Pluto long before their visual discovery.
It turned out that the mass of Planet X is 10 times the mass of the Earth. And it revolves around the Sun in a very elongated orbit. At the moment of closest approach to our luminary, the invisible planet and the star are separated by 200 astronomical units (an astronomical unit is the distance from the Sun to the Earth - ed.). At this moment, Planet X is 7 times farther from the center of the Solar System than Neptune. And the farthest point of the orbit is at 1200 AU. from the sun. It is because of its great distance that astronomers have never observed Planet X through a telescope. Planet 9 makes a complete revolution around the Sun once every 15 thousand years.
This is how Planet X rotates. Diagram from Science magazine
PLUTO KILLER
It is curious that one of the authors of the discovery of the 9th planet, Mike Bryan, ironically, used to bear the nickname ... “killer of the 9th planet.” The fact is that until 2006, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of the solar system. However, in 2005, Mike Brown discovered Eris, a planet slightly larger than Pluto. And it soon became clear that there are several such celestial bodies in the Kuiper belt. As a result, the International Astronomical Union decided to introduce a third criterion into the definition of the concept of “planet”: the planet must clear its orbit from other celestial bodies of comparable scale. As a result, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planets, and the number of planets in the solar system was reduced to eight. As for Brown, he published a popular science book under the eloquent title “How I Killed Pluto.”
“The most interesting thing is that even then I was convinced: Planet X must exist on the outskirts of the solar system,” Brown recalls. - In 2003, our group discovered the small planet Sedna. It is slightly smaller in size than Pluto and Eris, but its orbit lies far beyond the Kuiper belt and is not subject to the gravitational influence of Neptune. Sedna was at that time the most distant known large body in the Solar System. The question arose, what force forced it to enter such a non-standard orbit? The answer is obvious: only a massive planet the size of Neptune could have pulled Sedna onto such a distant trajectory.
WHO IS KONSTANTIN BATYGIN?
With Mike Brown everything is clear. This is a reputable scientist with extensive experience and a brilliant track record. Who is Konstantin Batygin? At the age of 13, he and his parents moved from Russia to the United States. Graduated with distinction from Harvard University. Konstantin is not yet 30 years old, but he is already a professor at the California Institute of Technology! He is described as a mathematical and computer genius. In their tandem with Mike Brown, calculations and computer modeling are Konstantin’s area of responsibility.
However, it is still too early to officially talk about the discovery of the 9th planet. We need to see it and record it. Now there is a competition among astronomers to become the first scientist to catch Planet X through a telescope. Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown intend to maintain the championship here too; they have at their disposal a large telescope at the Gemeni Observatory in Hawaii. But they now have many competitors around the world.
AND AT THIS TIME
Stephen Hawking: “It’s time to escape from Earth”
Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the most authoritative scientists in the world, whose statements humanity listens with interest, gave an interview to the British radio Radio Times. And again he - humanity - was frightened by expressing doubt that we would survive the next 100 years. Because we can destroy ourselves by developing science and technology. Most of all, according to the professor, nuclear weapons and genetically modified viruses are now terrible (details)"