ISSN:
1573-0794
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract The crucial assumption of this paper is, that the observed clustering of aphelion distances of intermediate-period comets in the 70–90 AU range is due to the influence of a tenth planet, called Planet X. We contribute to the search for Planet X a new and extended evaluation of a family of comets assumed to be Planet X's family of comets. By averaging the aphelion distances of comets that belong to a transplutonic family of comets, we get Planet X's semi-major axis a x = (83.0 ± 5.3) AU. The comets' orbits also yield the upper limit of the planet's orbital eccentricity e x ∼- 0.019. If this planet played an important part in ‘sending’ quasi-periodic comet showers to the inner solar system, we can calculate its orbital inclination i x = 46
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00056320
