As reported in Universe Today, studies from the UK and Spain, scientists are looking for planets' beyond Pluto to explain why so-called extreme trans-Neptunian objects — or ETNOs — are acting unlike they were predicted. Rather than randomly flying about, these ETNOs are apparently following a symmetrical pattern.
The astronomers studied 13 ETNOs that revolve around the sun like the planets we are familiar with but at much greater distances. These frigid bodies include the dwarf planet Sedna.
According to the researchers, these bodies should revolve around the at a distance of about 150 astronomical units — or AU, the distance from Earth to the sun — with a near-zero-degree inclination towards the sun. Instead, their distance ranges from 150 to 525 AU and they average a 20-degree inclination.
"This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution of the orbital elements of the ETNOs, and we consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto," said lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, of the Complutense University of Madrid, in a statement.
“If it is confirmed, our results may be truly revolutionary for astronomy,” he said.
