Ninth planet: the optimism of two French astronomers – TF1

Where could be the “ninth planet” US researchers believe they have discovered through mathematical models? Of French astronomers have managed to clarify the directions that guide the telescopes to try to find.

“Given everything we know about the movements of the planets of the solar system, our work allows us to say that it is possible but it is not n anywhere, “said Jacques Laskar, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory, who published a study with Agnes Fienga, the Observatory of the Cote d’Azur (south of France).

On January 20, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltec) created a stir by announcing that a “ninth planet” very large and very distant, could exist in our solar system. They have relied on mathematical models and computer simulations.

Simulation

With a mass about ten times that of the Earth, this planet would be on an orbit twenty times farther than Neptune. Very slow, it would put between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete turn around the sun.

The French researchers had the idea of ​​adding this ninth still in their virtual world INPOP model (Integrated Digital Planetary Observatory of Paris) in the solar system. “We assumed that there was indeed a planet in orbit proposed by the Americans and we looked at the influence it would have on other planets,” says Laskar.

“Here, we remove half of the possible directions”

“With Cassini accompanying Saturn since 2004, we know the Earth-Saturn distance 100 meters around for over ten years. We looked at how this distance would be changed by the existence of the “ninth planet”, because of the gravitational attraction between the heavenly bodies says this research director CNRS (National scientific research Centre).

The two teams of astronomers have identified two areas where it is possible that the planet is because its effects would be incompatible with the data from the Cassini spacecraft. Before the study, the scientific community does not know where to turn his eyes to try to locate. “Here, we remove half of the possible directions,” said Mr Laskar. “We divide the work by two.”

Results that could refine

The study also said that “nothing prevents existence of the ninth planet in all other directions. ” There is even a place where his presence could be “likely” because when this planet when we add the model fits better with the observations, says Mr. Laskar remains cautious, however. “I would not put my life on it,” he said.

The researchers worked with data from the Cassini spacecraft up to 2014. “These results could be improved if Cassini was extended until 2020,” says Mr. Laskar. “This would still halve the zone” where to look.

For now, it is expected that the Cassini spacecraft, manufactured by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), to end its mission by diving Saturn in 2017. But some scientists hope the probe will obtain the necessary financing for its extension.

VIDEO. A 9th planet 10 times denser than Earth?

VIDEO Discovery of a ninth planet. how was t- she been found?