Jupiter sized dark object may lurk in solar system's outer edge

November 29, 2010

November 29, 2010 - Jupiter sized dark object may lurk in solar system's outer edge -

Comet data that has been collected for over a century suggests that a dark Jupiter sized object is lurking at the edge of the solar system. Additionally, this object may be hurling ice and dust chunks towards Earth, reports Wired Science.

Planetary scientist John Matese of the University of Louisiana explained that 10 years worth of data were added to the initial research to test the hypothesis. “Only now should we be able to falsify or verify that you could have a Jupiter-mass object out there.”

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Matese and his colleague, Daniel Whitmire, think there is a hidden companion to the Sun in the Oort Cloud that is booting icy bodies into the inner solar system where they can be seen. New analysis of observations that have been made for the last hundred-plus years, tell Matese and Whitmire that their original idea can be confirmed; some 20 percent of the comets seen from Earth came from a distant dark planet.

Going by the patterns that the comets make in space the researchers were able to concur that 20 percent of comets in the Oort Cloud would need a nudge from a distant object about the size of Jupiter to make it to the Minor Planet Center of our system. (80 percent are pushed out by the galaxy's gravity).

“Something smaller than Jovian mass wouldn’t be strong enough to do the deed. Something more massive, like a brown dwarf, would give a much stronger signal than the 20 percent we assert.” Matese said.

[link to www.examiner.com]