Does “Planet 9” not exist? The theory of alternative gravity makes it unnecessary

A research team applies the MOND alternative gravity theory to the hypothetical “Planet 9” and discovers something amazing.

Clinton – There are researchers who assume that there is a ninth planet in our solar system. However, this does not mean Pluto, which was demoted from planet to dwarf planet in 2006. The only currently hypothetical “Planet Nine” is said to be much farther from the Sun than Pluto, and is five times the size of Earth. Only then can it explain something that experts have discovered: the movement of some objects in the so-called Kuiper Belt in our solar system only makes sense if this Planet Nine exists.

But although people have been searching for “Planet 9” for several years, and there are a variety of theories, it has not yet been found. A research duo from the United States put forward a different theory: what if “Planet 9” does not exist and the strange movements of objects in the Kuiper Belt can be explained in a different way?

Does “Planet 9” not exist in our solar system?

Theoretical physicist Katherine Brown (Hamilton College) and her colleague Harsh Mathur (Case Western Reserve University) tested the theory of alternative gravity Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) on Kuiper belt objects. “We wanted to see if the data supporting the ‘Planet 9’ hypothesis would actually rule out the MOND theory,” Brown explains in one of the articles. notice Their university.

Instead, the research team found that MOND accurately predicts the observed motions and led to the “Planet 9” theory. The study is In the specialized magazine Astronomical magazine Back.

An alternative MOND theory would make “Planet 9” unnecessary

MOND theory posits that Isaac Newton’s famous law of gravitation is valid only to a certain extent. If the gravitational acceleration predicted by Newton’s law becomes small enough, MOND allows for different gravitational behavior. Some experts even see the theory as an alternative to dark matter, a term used in astrophysics to describe a hypothetical form of matter that has gravitational effects in the universe but does not emit light and has not yet been discovered.

“MOND is really good at explaining galaxy-scale observations.” He says “But I did not expect that it would have such a noticeable impact on the outer solar system,” continues co-author Mathur. “Regardless of the outcome, this work shows that an exosolar system can be used as an exosolar system,” adds his colleague Brown. Testing laboratory “Gravity and the study of basic physics problems.” (unpaid bill)