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An astronomer from the Vatican Observatory has discovered a new body in the solar system.
The “Trans-Neptunian Object” (TNO) was designated 2021 XD7 and was spotted by Richard Boyle using the Vatican’s Advanced Technology Telescope on December 3.
Much like Pluto, the first discovered trans-Neptunian object, 2021 XD7 has a strange orbit that is considerably more inclined than the motions of Earth, Mars, and other planets.
The closest to the Sun is still 30 times farther than our own planet and extends twice as far outward.
It takes 286 years to move around the Sun, and due to its great distance from Earth, little is known about the planet – other than that, it is almost certainly smaller than even Pluto.
Exploring the TNO could help scientists find the elusive ninth planet orbiting our closest star. Pluto, when discovered in 1930, was once thought to be the ninth planet, but was eventually downgraded to a dwarf planet.
The Planet Nine theory was first proposed in 2015 after Caltech astronomers Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin said they found evidence of a giant planet in the outer solar system.
Proof of this was the orbits of five smaller objects in the same region – a configuration that only has a 0.007% change to occur by chance.
Unfortunately, it has been incredibly difficult to pin down the object with other astronomers claiming there is “no evidence” for such a planet. They think the apparent clustering is simply confirmation bias, discovered only because that’s where the telescopes were looking at the time, or due to other equipment sensitivities.
More TNOs are expected to be discovered next year with the construction of the Survey Telescope at the Vera Rubin Observatory in 2023.
