Scientists believe that the rumored “planet nine” that is concealed beyond the boundary of our solar system may possibly be something quite else.
Some have suggested that the mysterious movements of objects near the frontier of our solar system are caused by planet nine, a world that is said to be concealed in the darkness of our solar system’s neighborhood. They claim that objects in the furthest regions of the solar system react as if they are being pushed about by an invisible object, which is most likely another planet.
However, according to a recent study by physicists Harsh Mathur of Case Western Reserve University and Katherine Brown of Hamilton College, those motions are really the product of a modified law of gravity.
The researchers projected what would occur if the items were subject to the Modified Newtonian Dynamics, or MOND, hypothesis. That implies that Newton’s normal theory of gravity only holds true up to a certain extent, and that gravity may act differently, for example, in the outer galaxies.
Applying the MOND theory to the already-observed phenomena appeared to predict them perfectly, and they discovered that the facts were consistent. The alignment, according to Professor Mathur, “was striking.”
They point out that the results do not definitely exclude planet nine or another theory explaining what is happening. Others have proposed that the stated impact is just the result of when the faraway objects tend to be noticed, while still others have offered alternative hypotheses for what the objects may be.
Whatever the result, Professor Brown stated that this investigation “highlights the potential for the outer solar system to serve as a laboratory for testing gravity and studying basic problems of physics.”
Modified Newtonian Dynamics as an Alternative to the Planet Nine Hypothesis, an article describing the findings, was released in The Astronomical Journal.