New planet?

[Stewy]

(01-21-2016, 06:53 PM)Beaker Wrote: 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.

Great and accurate explanation Beaker.  The essential difference is the distance from the sun.  All the Exo planets we've "found" have been based on observing stars that dim unexpectedly and have gravity wobbles, however this requires the planet causing the effects to be very close to their star.  In many cases closer than Mercury and 10 larger than Earth or larger, thus making them uninhabitable.  More recently however they believe they've found Earth size or larger planets in the "life zone" of stars, so we're getting better telescopes and better math.