Discovering A New Planet To Publish On Web Article

Discovering a New Planet: What Could Happen to
Earth?
The Solar System it's not just the eight main planets anymore.
Imagine a new planet entering the fray, hurtling toward Earth. At
first, it looks small, but as it gets closer, you realize it's a massive
gas giant, larger than Earth, akin to Jupiter. This mysterious planet's
magnetosphere would interact with Earth's, creating thunderstorms
and beautiful auroras. But the beauty wouldn’t last. Soon, waves
would rise high, pulled by the planet's gravitational force.
Earthquakes would spread, the atmosphere would thin, and Earth
would break apart into chunks, enveloping life in cold and darkness.
Life on Earth would end.
But how did we get here? Is there already an undiscovered

planet out there?
First, let's understand how our current planets formed. Stars are
born enveloped in gas and dust, which spin into a donut-shaped
disc. Planets start as tiny grains of dust, smaller than a hair's width,
that collide and clump together into pebble-sized chunks, then
bigger rocks, eventually forming planetesimals. After billions of
years, this is how our Solar System's planets formed.
Could a new planet emerge from leftover gas and dust in our
Solar System? No. Solar winds from our Sun blew away all the dust
and gas used to make new planets after about 3-10 million years. If
we discover a new planet, it would already be out there. We just
need to find it.
There's speculation that a new planet, Planet Nine, might already
exist in our Solar System. Based on the calculations of the scientists,
it may be orbiting the Sun in the outer regions, far beyond Pluto.
Planet Nine, estimated to be the size of Neptune and ten times the
mass of Earth, has eluded us due to its highly elongated orbit, which
places it 400-800 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
This massive orbit, taking 10,000 to 20,000 Earth years to
complete, explains why we've missed it.
Scientists inferred its existence by observing the Kuiper belt,
where some dwarf planets and icy objects had unusual, clustered
orbits. This could be explained by the gravitational pull of a
mysterious planet—possibly Planet Nine. We're not sure if it exists,
but the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile may confirm it.
If Planet Nine is uncertain, what about rogue planets? Rogue planets are
like regular planets but aren’t tied to a star. They might get kicked out of
their solar system by gravitational interactions with other objects or from a
failed star formation. Estimates suggest there could be billions of rogue
planets in the Milky Way, but they're hard to detect as they emit little light.
What if an unknown planet entered our Solar System? If a Jupiter-
sized rogue planet wandered close to Earth, even 3 million
kilometers away, it would cause catastrophic effects due to its
immense gravitational force. As it approached, we'd experience its
magnetosphere's charged particles, leading to deadly radiation,
massive tidal waves, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
But what about a smaller freely floating planet, say Earth-sized or
Pluto-sized? If one of these planets were on a collision course with
Earth, the impact would be devastating. A 100 km-wide asteroid
could end all life on Earth, and Pluto, being 2,200 km wide, would be
even more destructive. Even if they collided with Mars or Venus,
debris from the collision could severely impact Earth.
However, the likelihood of being hit by a rogue planet is less than 1
in 2 trillion within the next 1,000 years. But if another planet, like
Mercury or Earth-sized, swung by close to us, it could alter our tidal
forces significantly.
If a rogue planet the size of Mercury passed by, its effects on our
tides would be stronger than the Moon's. If it were half the distance
to the Moon, it would cause tides eight times higher, flooding
coastal cities. It would also exert a pull on Earth's land, causing
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Now, what if another Earth passed by? Depending on your location,
you might see it above you, floating in zero gravity between two co-
orbiting Earths. This would cause everything, including the
atmosphere, oceans, and crust, to float away, eventually leading to
both Earths colliding.
But what if another Earth co-orbited with us in a more fun
scenario? If two Earths shared the same circular orbit or followed
horseshoe orbits like Saturn's moons Janus and Epimetheus, it could
be intriguing. In theory, two Earths could orbit in this pattern, taking
about 33 years to travel along the horseshoe and come near each
other. One Earth would be perpetual winter and the other would be
in perpetual summer.
Now, what if a new planet collided with the Sun? Depending on the
crash site and momentum, the collision could make the Sun brighter
for thousands of years or create a disc around it, reducing sunlight
reaching Earth by up to 20%.
Another frightening scenario is if a rogue planet shoved Earth
out of orbit. This would alter our seasons, possibly causing a new ice
age or scorching summers. Changing our orbital plane would throw
us out of sync with other planets, potentially leading us to wander
out of the Solar System, causing us to lose the Sun and freeze or fall
toward the Sun and fry.
Given these possibilities, I'm happy we haven't discovered new planets

wandering our Solar System. Yes, there's Planet Nine, but it's still a
mysterious possibility. We're putting up a sign for new planets to stay away.
Collisions are catastrophic, near misses are deadly, and pushing us off orbit
would bring on an ice age. Even if a new planet self-annihilates into the
Sun, it could be problematic. The only possibility I like is co-orbiting Earth
within the Goldilocks zone. Endless summer sounds nice, though unlikely.
But what if, instead of a new planet-finding us, we ventured into
the Solar System to find one ourselves? Some could be a better
version of our Earth.

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Discovering a New Planet: What Could Happen to

But how did we get here? Is there already an undiscovered

Given these possibilities, I'm happy we haven't discovered new planets

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