The planet Phaethon. Scientific studies of the planets of the solar system

Exploring the planets is an exciting activity. We know so little about the universe that in many cases it is possible to speak not of facts, but only of hypotheses. The study of the planets is an area in which the main discoveries are yet to come. However, there is something you can tell about. After all, scientific studies of the planets of the solar system have been going on for several centuries.

In the photo below (from left to right) of the planet 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 round space between these planets . The empirical dependence, describing the approximate distance from the sun of various planets, was formulated in 1766. It is known as Titius-Bode. The planet not yet discovered, according to this rule, should be approximately 2.8 a. E.

The assumption of Titius, the discovery of asteroids

As a result of studying the distances of various planets from the Sun, carried out in the second half of the 18th century, Titius, a German physicist, made an interesting assumption. He hypothesized that there is another heavenly body between Jupiter and Mars. In 1801, that is, a few dozen years later, 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, asteroids of Juno, Pallas and Vesta were discovered. Their orbits were very close to Ceres.

Olbers's conjecture

Olbers, a German astronomer (his portrait is presented above), on the basis of this suggested that there was a planet between Jupiter and Mars at a distance of about 2.8 astronomical units , which had already disintegrated into many asteroids. It began to be called Faeton. It was suggested that on this planet once existed organic life, and it is possible that the whole civilization. However, not everything about the planet Phaethon can be regarded as something more than just a guess.

Opinions about the death of Phaeton

Scientists of the 20th century suggested that approximately 16 thousand years ago a hypothetical planet was lost. A lot of disputes are caused today by such dating, as well as the reasons that led to the catastrophe. Some scientists believe that the gravity of Jupiter caused the destruction of Phaethon. Another assumption is volcanic activity. Other opinions related to a less traditional view are a collision with Nibiru, in which the orbit passes through the solar system; As well as thermonuclear war.

Life on Phaethon?

It is difficult to judge whether life was on Phaeton, since even the existence of this planet itself is difficult to prove. However, scientific research conducted in the last century shows that this can be true. Umberto Campins, an astronomer at the University of Central Florida, said at the annual conference of the planetary science department that his team found water on the asteroid 65 Cybele. According to him, this asteroid is covered from above with a thin layer of ice (several micrometers). And in it were traces of organic molecules. In the same belt, between Jupiter and Mars, is located the asteroid Cybele. Water was found several times earlier in 24 Themis. On Vesta and Ceres, large asteroids, it was also discovered. If it turns out that these are fragments of Phaethon, it is quite likely that it was from this planet that organic life was brought to Earth.

Today the hypothesis that in ancient times the planet Phaethon existed is not recognized by official science. However, there are many researchers and scholars who support the idea that this is not just a myth. Was there a planet Phaethon? The scientist Olbers, whom we mentioned earlier, believed this.

The opinion of Olbers about the death of Phaeton

We have already told you at the beginning of this article that astronomers back in the time of Heinrich Olbers (18th-19th centuries) thought that in the past there was a large celestial body between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. They wanted to understand what the fatal planet Phaethon was. Olbers still very broadly formulated his theory. He suggested that comets and asteroids were formed due to the fact that one large planet was scattered into pieces. The reason for this could be both its internal rupture and external impact (impact). Already in the 19th century, it became clear that if this hypothetical planet had existed for a long time, then it should have been significantly different from gas giants such as Neptune, Uranus, Saturn or Jupiter. Most likely, she belonged to the terrestrial group of planets in the solar system, which include: Mars, Venus, Earth and Mercury.

The method for estimating the dimensions and mass proposed by Leverrier

The number of open asteroids in the mid-19th century was still small. In addition, their dimensions were not established. Because of this, it was impossible to directly estimate the size and mass of a hypothetical planet. However, Urbain Leverrier, a French astronomer (his portrait is presented above), proposed a new method for its evaluation, which is successfully used by space researchers to this day. In order to understand the essence of this method, we should make a small digression. Let's talk about how Neptune was discovered.

The discovery of Neptune

This event was a triumph of the methods used in the study of outer space. The existence of this planet in the solar system was first theoretically "calculated", and then already discovered Neptune in the sky precisely in the place that was predicted.

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 the moments predetermined by the researchers. However, this did not work, since Uranus in the first decades of the 19th century. Constantly ran ahead, and in later years began to lag behind the positions that were calculated by scientists. Analyzing the volatility of its motion in its orbit, astronomers concluded that it should be followed by another planet (that is, Neptune), which knocked it off the "true path" due to its gravity. By the deviations of Uranus from the calculated positions it was required to determine the character of the movement of this invisible, and also to find its location in the sky.

The French researcher Urben Leverrier and the English scientist John Adams decided to tackle this difficult task. They both managed to achieve approximately the same results. However, the Englishman was not lucky - astronomers did not believe his calculations and did not begin to observe. A more favorable fate was to Leverrier. Just the day after receiving the letter with calculations from Urben, Johann Halle, a German researcher, discovered in the predicted place a new planet. Thus, "on the tip of the pen," as is commonly said, on Sept. 23, 1846, Neptune was discovered. The view on how many planets the Solar System has had was revised. It turned out that they were not 7, as was thought before, but 8.

How Leverrier determined the mass of Phaeton

Urben Leverrier used the same method to determine what mass a hypothetical celestial body has, of which Olbers was speaking. 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 the movements of 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 asteroid belt was very small.

Leverrier engaged in the exploration of Mars. He analyzed the unexplained deviations observed in the motion of the perihelion of the planet's orbit. He calculated that the mass of the asteroid belt should not be more than 0.1-0.25 of the earth mass. Using the same method, other researchers in subsequent years came to similar results.

The study of Phaethon in the 20th century

A new stage in the study of Phaethon began in the middle of the 20th century. By this time, detailed results of studies 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 in a hypothetical planet the structure of the shells was similar to that of the terrestrial planets.

The three most common types of meteorites - iron, iron-stone and stone - indicate that the body of Phaethon contains a mantle, bark and iron-nickel core. From the different shells of the planet, which had broken up once, meteorites of these three classes were formed. Scientists believe that achondrites, so reminiscent of the minerals of the earth's crust, could well have been formed from the phaeton bark. Hondrites could form from the upper mantle. Iron meteorites then emerged from its core, and from the lower layers of the mantle - iron-stone.

Knowing the percentage of meteorites of different classes that fall on the earth's surface, we can estimate the thickness of the crust, the size of the core, and the overall dimensions of the hypothetical planet. The planet Phaethon, according to such estimates, was small. About 3 thousand km was its radius. That is, in size, he was comparable to Mars.

Pulkovo astronomers in 1975 published the work of KN Savchenko (years of life - 1910-1956). He argued that the planet Phaethon by its mass belongs precisely to the terrestrial group. According to Savchenko, she was close in this respect to Mars. 3440 km was its radius.

There is no common opinion among astronomers on this issue. Some, for example, believe that only in 0.001 of the earth mass is the upper limit of the mass of small planets located in the ring of asteroids. Although it is clear that for billions of years that have passed since the death of Phaeton, the Sun, the planets, as well as their satellites, attracted many of its fragments. Many of the remains of Phaethon over the years were crushed into cosmic dust.

Calculations show that giant Jupiter has a large resonance-gravitational effect, because of 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 10,000 times greater than today. A number of scientists believe that the mass of Phaethon at the time of the explosion could exceed the mass of today's asteroid belt by 3,000 times.

Some researchers believe that Phaethon is an exploding star that left the Solar System once or even today and rotates in an elongated orbit. For example, LV Konstantinovskaya believes that the period of revolution of this planet around the Sun is 2800 years. This figure underlies the calendar of the Maya and the ancient Indian calendar. The researcher noted that 2,000 years ago this star was seen at the birth of Jesus the Magi. They called her the star of Bethlehem.

The principle of minimal interaction

Michael Ouwend, Canadian astronomer, in 1972 formulated a law that is known as the principle of minimal interaction. He suggested, based on this principle, that between Jupiter and Mars there was a planet about 10 million years ago that was 90 times more massive than Earth. However, for unknown reasons, it was destroyed. In this case, a significant part of the comets and asteroids was eventually attracted by Jupiter. By the way, the mass of Saturn by modern estimates is about 95 Earth masses. A number of researchers believe that in this respect, Phaethon still must significantly yield to Saturn.

The assumption of the mass of Phaethon, based on a generalization of the estimates

So, as you have noticed, the scatter in the estimates of the masses, and consequently the dimensions of the planet, which range from Mars to Saturn, is very insignificant. In other words, we are talking about 0.11-0.9 of the Earth's mass. This is understandable, since science still does not know about the length of time since the disaster. Without knowing when the planet disintegrated, it is impossible to give more or less accurate conclusions about its mass.

As it usually happens, most likely the following: the truth is in the middle. The size and mass of the deceased Phaethon could be commensurable from the point of view of science with the dimensions and mass of our Earth. Some researchers say that Phaethon was about 2-3 times more than the last. This means that it could exceed the size of our planet by a factor of 1.5.

The refutation of the theory of Olbers 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 Phaethon is no more than a guess that is easy to refute. Today, most researchers are inclined to the fact that because of the proximity to Jupiter, it could not appear between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the fact that once the death of the planet Phaethon occurred. Her "buds," according to this hypothesis, were absorbed by Jupiter, became his companions, or were thrown into other areas of our solar system. The main "culprit" of the fact that the mythical disappeared planet Phaethon could not exist, it is thus Jupiter. However, it is now recognized that there were other factors besides which the planet's accumulation did not take place.

Planet V

Interesting discoveries in astronomy were made by Americans. Based on the results obtained using mathematical modeling, Jack Lisso and John Chambers, NASA scientists, suggested that there was a planet with a very unstable and eccentric orbit between the asteroid belt and Mars 4 billion years ago. They called it "Planet V". Its existence, however, has not yet been confirmed by any other modern exploration of the cosmos. Scientists believe that the fifth planet died, falling on the Sun. However, this opinion has not been verified by anyone. Interestingly, according to this version, the formation of the asteroid belt is not associated with this planet.

These are the main views of astronomers on the problem of the existence of Phaethon. Scientific studies of the planets of the solar system continue. It is likely, given the achievements of the last century in the exploration of outer space, 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 Phaeton.

The Legend of Phaeton

In Helios, the sun god (pictured above), from Klimen, whose mother was the sea goddess Thetis, a son was born, who was named Phaeton. Epaph, the son of Zeus and the relative of the protagonist, once doubted that the father of Phaethon really is Helios. He was angry with him and asked his parent to prove that he was his son. Phaethon wanted him to let him ride on his famous golden chariot. Helios was horrified, he said that even the great Zeus is not in a position to rule it. However, Phaethon insisted, and he agreed.

The son of Helios jumped on the chariot, but could not rule the horses. In the end, he released the reins. The horses, feeling the freedom, rushed even faster. They then swept very close to the Earth, then rose to the very stars. The earth was engulfed by the flames of a descending chariot. Entire tribes were bent, the forest burned. In the thick smoke, Phaethon 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 will again turn into primordial chaos, if this continues to continue. She asked to save everyone from death. Zeus heeded her pleas, waved her right hand, threw the lightning and put out the fire with her fire. The chariot of Helios also perished. The harness of horses and its fragments 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.