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Why is Planet X a gas planet?

Best Answers

Hypothetical Planet X. Artist's illustration of Hypothetical Planet X. This is a distant view from Planet Nine back towards the sun. The object is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune. Hypothetical lightning lights up the night side. Image Credit: Caltech/R. read more

The size of the hypothetical planet would make it an ice giant, like Neptune and Uranus. And it might be the 5th giant planet suggested by the Nice model. We might be surprised when it is actually found, assuming it exists. Exoplanets have been full of surprises. read more

Another embryonic giant planet could easily have formed there, only to be booted outward by a gravitational kick from another gas giant. It’s harder to explain why Planet X didn’t either loop back around to where it started or leave the solar system entirely. read more

Brown and Konstantin Batygin, a theoretical astrophysicist at Caltech who specializes in solar system dynamics, think Planet X formed in the early stages of the solar system, some 4 billion years ago, when the large planets (including Planet X) were still rocky cores. read more

Lowell's sudden death in 1916 temporarily halted the search for Planet X. Failing to find the planet, according to one friend, "virtually killed him". Lowell's widow, Constance, engaged in a legal battle with the observatory over Lowell's legacy which halted the search for Planet X for several years. read more

Image Answers

Further Research

Is There Really a Planet X?
www.universetoday.com

New Object Offers Hint of "Planet X"
www.skyandtelescope.com