Rodney's Planet refers to a hypothetical planet proposed by Rodney Gomes to explain the extreme orbit of many Kuiper Belt Objects. So far, the planet remains as a speculative hypothesis.
History[]
Rodney Gomes, in 2012, proposed that a potential unseen planet might be making its presence by disturbing the orbits of several Kuiper Belt Objects. According to his calculations, over about a dozen KBO's, including Sedna, hosts a strange orbit compared to where they should be, based on existing models of the Solar System. The unexpected orbits, according to Rodney, might have a few explanations, suggesting a planetary-mass object sitting far away from the Sun,[1] but is massive enough to have a gravitational effect on KBO's.[2]
Rodney analyzed over 92 KBO's, and then later comparing his results to other models of how the celestial bodies should be distributed, with or without an additional planet. Rodney would then conclude that if theres no additional planet, the models wouldn't produce the highly elongated orbits they saw for six of the 92 objects.
How big the object is supposed to be is unclear, but Rodney did state that there are a lot of possibilities. He postulated that a Neptune-sized planet might be responsible, orbiting at a distance of over 1,506 AU's away from the Sun. Though, Rodney had also thought that a Mars-sized world could also work, and that it would've also sat in an elongated that would occasionally sweep by at 53.79 AU.[3]
Rodney had also speculated that the planet may've been a rogue planet captured by the Sun, but also postulated that the planet originally formed closer to the Sun, but was flung out by the gravitational encounters with the other planets. Due to how far the planet would sit from the Sun, it would be very dim to see or notice, with Rodney speculating that it could be anywhere.
Parameters[]
Rodney originally speculated that the planet might be Neptune-sized, and thus meaning that it could be an ice giant of sorts. However, he had also postulated that it could also be a Mars-sized world, which would make a terrestrial ice planet of sorts.
The planet was postulated to be around 1,506 AU's away from the Sun. The Mars-sized world speculation instead places it at a close distance of 53.79 AU from the Sun.
Trivia[]
- It should be worth noting that Rodney never gave the planet a proper name. As such, its name is purely conjectural.