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Solution to a cosmic mystery—the eccentric orbits of trans-Neptunian objects

phys.org Solution to a cosmic mystery—the eccentric orbits of trans-Neptunian objects

New evidence suggests that billions of years ago, a star may have passed very close to our solar system. As a result, thousands of smaller celestial bodies in the outer solar system outside Neptune's orbit were deflected into highly inclined trajectories around the sun. It is possible that some of t...

Solution to a cosmic mystery—the eccentric orbits of trans-Neptunian objects

New evidence suggests that billions of years ago, a star may have passed very close to our solar system. As a result, thousands of smaller celestial bodies in the outer solar system outside Neptune's orbit were deflected into highly inclined trajectories around the sun. It is possible that some of them were captured by the planets Jupiter and Saturn as moons.

Trajectory of the stellar flyby that shaped the outer Solar System

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02349-x

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