Planet exploration is an exciting experience. We know so little about the universe that in many cases we can talk not about facts, but only about hypotheses. Planet exploration is an area in which major discoveries are yet to come. However, something can still be said. After all, scientific studies of the planets of the solar system have been ongoing for several centuries.
In the photo below (from left to right) the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are presented in their relative sizes.
The assumption that there is a planet between Jupiter and Mars was first expressed in 1596 by Johannes Kepler. In his opinion, he was based on the fact that there is a large circular space between these planets. An empirical dependence describing the approximate distance from the Sun of various planets was formulated in 1766. She is usually known as Titius-Bode. An undetected planet, according to this rule, should be approximately 2.8 a. e.
Titius Assumption, Asteroid Detection
As a result of studying the distances of various planets from the Sun, carried out in the 2nd half of the 18th century, Titius, a German physicist, made an interesting assumption. He hypothesized that there is another celestial body between Jupiter and Mars. In 1801, that is, after several decades, the asteroid Ceres was discovered. He moved with astonishing accuracy at a distance from the Sun, corresponding to the rule of Titius. A few years later, the asteroids of Juno, Pallas and West were discovered. Their orbits were very close to Ceres.
Guess Olbers
Olbers, a German astronomer (a portrait of him is presented above), on the basis of this suggested that a planet once existed between Jupiter and Mars at a distance of about 2.8 astronomical units from the Sun, today already decayed into many asteroids. They began to call her Phaeton. It has been suggested that organic life once existed on this planet, and it is possible that a whole civilization. However, far from everything about the planet Phaeton can be considered as something more than just a hunch.
Opinions about the death of Phaeton
Scientists of the 20th century suggested that about 16 thousand years ago, a hypothetical planet died. A lot of controversy is causing such dating today, as well as the reasons that led to the disaster. Some scientists believe that the gravity of Jupiter caused the destruction of the Phaeton. Another assumption is volcanic activity. Other opinions relating to a less traditional view are a collision with Nibiru, in which the orbit passes just through the solar system; as well as thermonuclear war.
Life on the Phaeton?
It is difficult to judge whether there was life on the Phaeton, since even the existence of this planet itself is difficult to prove. However, scientific studies conducted in the last century show that this may be true. Umberto Campins, an astronomer working at the University of Central Florida, said at an annual planetary science conference that his team had found water on Cybele’s asteroid 65. According to him, this asteroid is covered from above with a thin layer of ice (several micrometers). And traces of organic molecules were found in it. In the same belt, between Jupiter and Mars, is the asteroid Cybele. Water was found earlier at 24 Themis. On West and Ceres, large asteroids, it was also found. If it turns out that these are fragments of the Phaeton, it is likely that it was from this planet that organic life was brought to Earth.
Today, the hypothesis that the planet Phaeton existed in ancient times is not recognized as official science. However, there are many researchers and scientists who support the idea that this is not just a myth. Was the planet Phaeton? The scientist Olbers, whom we have already mentioned, believed in this.
Opinion Olbers about the death of Phaeton
We already said at the beginning of this article that astronomers back in the time of Heinrich Olbers (18-19 century) were interested in the idea that in the past there was a large celestial body between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. They wanted to understand what constituted the lost planet Phaeton. Olbers still very broadly formulated his theory. He suggested that comets and asteroids formed due to the fact that one large planet shattered into pieces. The reason for this could be both its internal rupture and external impact (shock). Already in the 19th century it became clear that if this hypothetical planet once existed long ago, then it should have been significantly different from gas giants such as Neptune, Uranus, Saturn or Jupiter. Most likely, it belonged to the terrestrial group of planets located in the solar system, which include: Mars, Venus, Earth and Mercury.
A method for estimating size and weight proposed by Le Verrier
The number of discovered asteroids in the mid-19th century was still small. In addition, their sizes have not been established. Because of this, it was impossible to directly assess the size and mass of a hypothetical planet. However, Urbain Le Verrier, a French astronomer (his portrait is presented above), proposed a new way to evaluate it, which space researchers have successfully used to this day. In order to understand the essence of this method, a small digression should be made. Let's talk about how Neptune was discovered.
Discovery of Neptune
This event was a triumph of the methods used in space exploration. The existence of this planet in the solar system was first theoretically "calculated", and then Neptune was discovered in the sky exactly in the place that was predicted.
The observations of Uranus, discovered in 1781, seemed to provide an opportunity to create an accurate table in which the positions of the planet in orbit were described at moments predetermined by the researchers. However, this did not work out, since Uranus in the first decades of the 19th century. he constantly ran ahead, and in subsequent years began to lag behind the positions that were calculated by scientists. Analyzing the inconstancy of its movement in its orbit, astronomers concluded that there must be another planet (that is, Neptune), which leads it astray due to its gravitation. From the deviations of Uranus from the calculated positions, it was required to determine what character the movement of this invisibility has, and also to find its location in the sky.
French researcher Urbain Le Verrier and English scientist John Adams decided to tackle this difficult task. Both of them managed to achieve approximately the same results. However, the Englishman was not lucky - astronomers did not believe his calculations and did not begin observations. A more favorable fate was to Le Verrier. Literally the day after receiving a letter with calculations from Urben, Johann Halle, a German researcher, discovered a new planet in the predicted location. So, "at the tip of the pen", as they usually say, on September 23, 1846, Neptune was discovered. The opinion of how many planets the solar system has was revised. It turned out that there are not 7 of them, as previously thought, but 8.
How Le Verrier defined the mass of the Phaeton
Urbén Le Verrier used the same method to determine the mass of the hypothetical celestial body that Olbers spoke of. The mass of all asteroids, including those not yet discovered at that time, could be estimated using the magnitude of the disturbing actions that the asteroid belt had on Mars. In this case, of course, the entire set of cosmic dust and celestial bodies that are in the asteroid belt will not be taken into account. It is necessary to consider Mars, since the impact on the giant Jupiter of the asteroid belt was very small.
Le Verrier explored Mars. He analyzed the unexplained deviations observed in the movement of the perihelion of the planet’s orbit. He calculated that the mass of the asteroid belt should be no more than 0.1-0.25 earth mass. Using the same method, other researchers in the following years came to similar results.
Learning the Phaeton in the 20th Century
A new stage in the study of the Phaeton began in the middle of the 20th century. By this time, detailed results of the study of different types of meteorites appeared. This allowed scientists to get information about what structure the planet Phaeton could have. In fact, if we assume that the asteroid belt is the main source of meteorites falling on the earth's surface, it will be necessary to recognize that the structure of the shells of a hypothetical planet was similar to that of the planets of the earth group.
The three most common types of meteorites - iron, iron-stone and stone - indicate that the body of the Phaeton contains a mantle, crust and iron-nickel core. From the various shells of the planet that once disintegrated, meteorites of these three classes formed. Scientists believe that achondrites, so reminiscent of the minerals of the earth's crust, could well have formed precisely from the bark of the Phaeton. Chondrites could form from the upper mantle. Iron meteorites then appeared from its core, and from the lower layers of the mantle - iron-stone.
Knowing the percentage of meteorites of various classes that fall on the earth's surface, we can estimate the thickness of the crust, the size of the core, as well as the overall size of a hypothetical planet. Planet Phaeton, according to such estimates, was small. About 3 thousand km was its radius. That is, in size it was comparable to Mars.
Pulkovo astronomers in 1975 published the work of K. N. Savchenko (years of life - 1910-1956). He argued that the planet Phaeton in its mass belongs to the terrestrial group. According to Savchenko, she was close in this regard to Mars. 3440 km was its radius.
On this issue, there is no consensus among astronomers. Some, for example, believe that the upper limit of the mass of small planets located in the asteroid ring is estimated at only 0.001 Earth masses. Although it is clear that in the billions of years that have passed since the death of Phaeton, the Sun, the planet, as well as their satellites, attracted many fragments of it. Many of the remains of the Phaeton for many years were crushed into cosmic dust.
Calculations show that the giant Jupiter has a large resonant-gravitational effect, due to which a significant number of asteroids could be thrown out of the orbit. According to some estimates, immediately after the disaster, the amount of substance could be 10 thousand times more than today. A number of scientists believe that the mass of the Phaeton at the time of the explosion could exceed the mass of today's asteroid belt by 3 thousand times.
Some researchers believe that the Phaeton is an exploding star that once left the solar system or even exists today and rotates in an elongated orbit. For example, L.V. Konstantinovskaya believes that the period of revolution of this planet around the Sun is 2800 years. This figure is the basis of the Mayan calendar and the Ayurveda calendar. The researcher noted that 2 thousand years ago it was this star that was seen at the birth of Jesus by the Magi. They called her the star of Bethlehem.
Principle of minimal interaction
Michael Ouvend, a Canadian astronomer, formulated a law in 1972, which is known as the principle of minimal interaction. He suggested, based on this principle, that between Jupiter and Mars about 10 million years ago there was a planet that was 90 times more massive than Earth. However, for unknown reasons, it was destroyed. At the same time, a significant part of comets and asteroids was eventually attracted by Jupiter. By the way, the mass of Saturn, according to modern estimates, is about 95 Earth masses. A number of researchers believe that in this respect, the Phaeton should nevertheless be significantly inferior to Saturn.
The assumption of the mass of the Phaeton, based on the generalization of estimates
So, as you noticed, the scatter in the estimates of the masses, and therefore the size of the planet, which range from Mars to Saturn, is very insignificant. In other words, we are talking about 0.11-0.9 Earth masses. This is understandable, since science still does not know what period of time has passed since the disaster. Without knowing when the planet collapsed, it is impossible to make more or less accurate conclusions about its mass.
As it usually happens, the following is most likely: the truth is in the middle. The dimensions and mass of the dead Phaeton could be commensurate from the point of view of science with the dimensions and mass of our Earth. Some researchers claim that the Phaeton was approximately 2–3 times larger in the latter measure. This means that it could exceed the size of our planet by about 1.5 times.
Refutation of Olbers theory in the 60s of the 20th century
It should be noted that many scientists already in the 60s of the 20th century began to abandon the theory proposed by Heinrich Olbers. They believe that the legend of the planet Phaeton is nothing more than a hunch that is easy to refute. Today, most researchers are inclined to believe that due to its proximity to Jupiter, it could not appear between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. Consequently, it is impossible to talk about the fact that once the death of the planet Phaeton took place. Her "embryos", according to this hypothesis, were absorbed by Jupiter, became its satellites or were thrown back to other areas of our solar system. The main "culprit" of the fact that the mythical extinct planet Phaeton could not exist is thus considered precisely Jupiter. However, it is now recognized that besides this, there were other factors for which the accumulation of the planet did not take place.
Planet v
Interesting discoveries in astronomy were made by the Americans. Based on the results obtained using mathematical modeling, Jack Lisso and John Chambers, NASA scientists, suggested that between the asteroid belt and Mars 4 billion years ago there was a planet with a very unstable and eccentric orbit. They called it "Planet V". Its existence, however, has not yet been confirmed by any other modern space exploration. Scientists believe that the fifth planet died when it fell on the sun. However, no one has been able to verify this opinion at present. Interestingly, according to this version, the formation of an asteroid belt is not associated with this planet.
These are the basic views of astronomers on the problem of the existence of the Phaeton. Scientific studies of the planets of the solar system are ongoing. It is likely, given the achievements of the last century in space exploration, that in the very near future we will receive new interesting information. Who knows how many planets are waiting for their discovery ...
In conclusion, we will tell a beautiful legend about the Phaeton.
The legend of the Phaeton
Helios, the god of the Sun (pictured above), born to Klymena, whose mother was the sea goddess Thetis, had a son named Phaeton. Epaph, the son of Zeus and a relative of the protagonist, once doubted that Helios is really the father of Phaeton. He was angry with him and asked his parent to prove that he was his son. The Phaeton wanted him to let him ride his famous golden chariot. Helios was horrified, he said that even the great Zeus is not able to rule her. However, Phaeton insisted, and he agreed.
The son of Helios jumped onto the chariot, but could not rule the horses. He eventually released the reins. Horses, sensing freedom, rushed even faster. They either flashed very close to the Earth, then rose to the very stars. The earth was engulfed in flames from a descending chariot. Entire tribes perished, the forest burned. The chaise in dense smoke did not understand where he was going. The seas began to dry out, and even the sea deities began to suffer from the heat.
Then Gaia-Earth exclaimed, turning to Zeus, that soon everything would again turn into primitive chaos, if this continues further. She asked to save everyone from death. Zeus heeded her pleas, waved his right hand, threw a lightning and extinguished her fire with fire. Helios's chariot also perished. A harness of horses and fragments of it are scattered across the sky. Helios in deep sorrow closed his face and did not appear all day in the blue sky. The earth was lit only by fire from a fire.