The Search For "Planet Y"

The planets out to Saturn were known in ancient times. Following the invention of telescopes, Uranus was discovered in the Eighteenth Century, Neptune in the Nineteenth Century and, Pluto in the Twentieth Century. The question now is whether there will be a new planet for the Twenty-First Century.

The idea that there might be another planet to be discovered is nothing new. The planet would be far away from the sun and, if it was dark, would be difficult to see. In the news recently was the search for a "Planet Y". 

The supposed planet has not been seen or directly detected. But what is interesting is that the mean geometric plane of the Solar System changes by about 15 degrees as we move outward past Neptune. The orbits of the planets out to Neptune are all in close to the same plane. But the mean plane changes as we move outward from there.

The theory behind "Planet Y" is that the gravity of the unseen planet is what is causing this change in plane. But no such planet has been found and I have an explanation for it that doesn't require any such planet or unseen source of gravity.

We know that our Solar System formed when a large star exploded in a supernova. Only the largest stars will explode in a supernova. Some of the matter from the supernova fell back together by gravity to form the present sun and planets.

A star forms when enough matter collects by gravity to overcome the repulsion between negatively-charged electrons that keeps atoms from merging together. Smaller atoms are crunched together into larger ones. The new larger atom has less internal energy than the ones that were crunched together to form it. The excess energy is released as radiation and this is why stars shine. 

A star is an equilibrium between the outward force of the radiation that is released and the inward force of gravity. As time goes on, successively heavier elements are being fused together and so more energy per time is released. This upsets the equilibrium between the inward and outward forces. The sun will eventually swell into a "red giant" as a result of this imbalance. But the most massive stars will explode in a supernova.

Before the star exploded from the center in a supernova, it may blast away it's outer layers in an effort to restore the equilibrium by decreasing it's mass. This is what I understand as a nova, as opposed to exploding from the center in a supernova.

Lighter atoms tend to be in the star's outer layers, and heavier atoms toward the center. The much greater energy released in a supernova will fuse atoms together that wouldn't otherwise happen, as the ordinary fusion process only goes as far as iron. We can see how fusion in the star that preceded the sun only went as far as iron in how common it is in the inner Solar System. Iron is the most common element in the earth by mass and Mercury contains so much iron that it is known as the "Iron Planet".

All elements heavier than iron were formed only during the tremendous release of energy in a supernova. That is why elements heavier than iron are exponentially less common than iron and lighter elements. Some of these heavy elements are less-than-stable and gradually give off radiation or particles in an effort to achieve a more stable state. These emissions are known as radioactivity.

Just as the tremendous energy released by the supernova fuses together heavy atoms that wouldn't otherwise exist, the much lesser energy released by a nova fused light atoms in the outer layers of the star into molecules. This is how light and common molecules such as water, salt, ammonia and, methane formed. It is also where the energy in hydrogen fuel comes from. It is because the hydrogen is diatomic and there is energy in the molecular bond. This energy doesn't come from the sun, it must have come from somewhere else. It came from the energy released in a nova by the star that preceded the sun.

I believe that the star that preceded the sun underwent three nova, a blasting away of the outer layers in an effort to regain equilibrium, before finally exploding from the center in a supernova. Each successive nova started from a lower position because outer layers had been blasted away by the previous nova. Comets, as well as the bulk of the outer planets are made mostly of these light molecules. 

The first nova formed the distant comets, the Oort Cloud. The second nova formed the nearer comets, the Kuiper Belt. The third nova formed the gaseous and frozen bulk of the outer planets. Finally, the supernova formed the rocky and metallic inner planets and cores of the outer planets. Jupiter is far more massive than the rest of the planets combined because it is in a favored position where the bulk of the light molecules thrown outward by the last nova intersects with the bulk of the heavy matter thrown outward by the supernova.

This tilt of about 15 degrees in the plane of the Solar System, as we move outward past Neptune, is simple to explain. The energy released by the first or second nova, or both, caused a change in the star's rotational axis. The star was rotating so that the centrifugal force of rotation was at a maximum in the equatorial plane of the star. This would add to the momentum of the matter thrown outward by a nova or supernova, so that matter would be less likely to fall back together to form the present Solar System.

The tilt in the mean geometric plane of the Solar System, as we move outward past Neptune, is simply a reflection of the shift in the rotational axis of the star that preceded the sun, before it finally exploded in a supernova.

Here are some links for more about nova and supernova.

"Nova And Supernova"

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/04/nova-and-supernova.html?m=0 

"Our Complicated Solar System"

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/08/our-complicated-solar-system.html?m=0 

"The Vital Importance Of Supernova In Exoplanets"

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-vital-importance-of-supernova-in.html?m=0