An interstellar visitor far more massive than any celestial body in our solar system has dramatically altered the planets’ orbits, scientists have claimed. This research has yet to be peer-reviewed but has been published. arXiv The preprint database suggests that this cosmic intruder, possibly eight times the mass of Jupiter, passed very close to where the orbit of Mars is today, possibly affecting the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. has been

For a long time, scientists have argued that under ideal conditions, the planets should lie in circles that are concentric around the sun and in the same plane — meaning that if you look at them edge-on, you’ll only see one. A line will be visible. However, since the planets revolve around the Sun in three-dimensional space in different orbits, it becomes almost impossible for them to line up in a straight line.

To understand the discrepancy, the researchers considered a scenario about four billion years ago when an alien the size of a star in our solar system. The thing was spinning. They ran extensive simulations through 50,000 scenarios, each spanning 20 million years, while adjusting various parameters. Observer mass, velocity, and closest approach to the Sun as observed.

These simulations indicated that in about one percent of cases, this cosmic guest could change the orbits of the planets we see today.

“We estimate that there is about a one in 100 chance that such a flyby produces a dynamic architecture similar to the Solar System,” the study highlighted.

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Results of the study

The results suggest that the interstellar object could come within 1.69 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun, which is just outside the current orbit of Mars. An astronomical unit is approximately the distance from the Earth to the Sun. This proximity would have been close enough for the visitor’s gravity to pull our planets and twist them in new directions.

“The scenario of a close collision with a substellar object offers a plausible explanation for the origin of moderate eccentricities and inclinations and the secular architecture of planets.”

Previous theories suggested that planetary interactions within the Solar System could cause orbits to reshape. However, the new study challenges this belief and argues that a one-time event could explain these anomalies.

The scientists added that further exploration of this scenario was needed to detail “the effect of substellar flyby bias on the dynamical excitation of minor planets in the asteroid belt and trans-Neptunian belt”.



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