Scientists have discovered that an enormous object from deep space may have altered the orbits of four planets in our solar system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The object is estimated to be 8 times the mass of Jupiter.
According to a pre-print research paper, published on arXiv, researchers modeled the orbits of these outer planets and performed 50,000 simulations to determine if such an object could have caused the irregularities in their orbits.
The simulations found that around one percent resulted in the planets’ orbits being similar to how they are today. The objects involved were between two and 50 times Jupiter’s mass, including brown dwarf masses. Brown dwarfs are large celestial objects between planets and stars.
The researchers also performed simulations with the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and found that an object eight times the mass of Jupiter was most likely to be involved in the current strange orbits of the outer planets.
This study suggests that a single visit from such an object may have caused these irregularities. The researchers estimate that there is approximately 1-in-103 to 1-in-104 chance of this encounter happening within an open star cluster where the solar system formed.
With an estimated population of sun-like stars in the galaxy, the possibility of such encounters becomes more feasible. This study provides new insights into how our solar system’s planets may have been shaped over billions of years.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/solar-system-planets-orbits-altered-giant-object-billions-years-ago-2018163