What we know about the shape of the Solar System might just be changing because of the discovery of a trans-Neptunian object with an inexplicable orbit. All planets in the solar system orbit the sun in the same direction as the rotation of the sun. This orbit is known as the pro-grade orbit. Comets and minor bodies are an exception to this rule.
However, a newly discovered trans-Neptunian object, currently classified as a minor planet is moving in a retrograde orbit. That is however, not the only weird thing about this minor planet. It also moves in an orbital plane that is almost perpendicular to the rest of the Solar System. Minor planets are called “centaurs”, and this wild centaur has been nicknamed “Niku”. According to the current understanding of planet formation in accretion discs around stars, such objects should not exist.
There must have been some kind of disturbance to Niku for it to have moved into such an erratic orbit. The discovery of Niku is a foreshadowing of changes in our basic understanding about the shape of the Solar System. It is very unlikely that objects such as Niku will be alone in their retrograde, high inclination orbit.
The discovery of Niku hints at more trans-Neptunian objects that are following similar orbits. Scientists have to come up with new theories to explain how and why Niku is following it’s current orbit, as the minor planet simply does not fit into any known models of the Solar System.
- Abdulsamad Aliyu
Via: Tech First
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