Astronomers have discovered a possible twin of the mysterious ninth planet of the solar system, located 336 light-years from Earth. This object is comparable in size to Jupiter and 11 times its mass, and its orbit is located very far from its parent stars. This is reported in an article published in The Astronomical Journal.
Scientists have discovered an exoplanet located at a great distance from the binary star HD 106906 and the ring of ice debris. In the solar system, a similar ring is called the Kuiper Belt and is located beyond the orbit of Neptune. The gas giant formed along with the star 15 million years ago, indicating that the ninth planet may have arisen at the dawn of the solar system, 4.6 billion years ago.
The exoplanet is located extremely far from a pair of young stars, and is more than 730 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun. This makes it difficult to calculate the parameters of the orbit, which turned out to be elongated and inclined. Scientists believe that the reason was that the planet initially migrated closer to the binary star, after which, due to the gravitational effect, it was almost thrown out of the system. A passing star has managed to stabilize the orbit of the gas giant.
Astronomers believe that a similar scenario could be realized in the case of the ninth planet of the solar system. It could have formed in the inner part of the solar system and be ejected from it as a result of interaction with Jupiter, after which its orbit was stabilized by the gravitational field of passing stars.