01-21-2016, 06:53 PM
(01-20-2016, 09:31 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: This one is in our solar system. Pioneer did get out of this system. This is indeed my point. If it's that big, how could we have miss it, we have discovered planets that are much more far away.
I'm just asking a question, I'm not judging things I'm unable to do.
A distant planet in our own solar system would be harder to find than another planet orbiting a different star in our galaxy (an exoplanet). That is because a distant planet in our own solar system will receive very little light or heat from our sun. And since its orbit is so long, and may be out of sync with Earth's orbit, it would be very hard to detect by either a visible light telescope, or an infrared telescope. The one they are talking about is theorized based upon the effect of surrounding objects. Their orbits are all converging at a single point in space which is very unusual and suggests a gravitational cause. They have come up with the possibility based upon mathematical calculations. It won't be confirmed until it is found by a telescope, which is like looking for a needle in a haystack in the dark.
Exoplanets are easier to discover because when they pass in front of their star, they dim the light ever so slightly. Their gravitational pull also causes their star to wobble. So by detecting the wobble, then watching for the star to dim, they can confirm the existence of an exoplanet. The ones we have detected have all been much larger than Earth, and often have been relatively close to their stars.
