Ninth planet may have been discovered, researchers say

研究人员称第九大行星或被发现

You might have a replacement, Pluto. There could be another planet in our solar system.

人们也许找到了冥王星的替代者。在太阳系中可能有另一个星球能充当第九大行星的角色。

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have found evidence in the outer solar system of an object that could be a real ninth planet.

加州理工学院的研究人员发现，太阳系外围的一颗行星能够成为真正的第九大行星。

Nicknamed Planet Nine, it "has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun" than Neptune. That means "it would take this new planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the sun," according to Caltech.

加州理工学院透露。这颗被叫做九号行星的星球“质量是地球的十倍，而到太阳的平均距离是海王星到太阳距离的20倍。”这表明“这颗行星围绕太阳运行一周需要大约1万到2万地球年。”

Researchers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown haven’t actually seen the planet, but other research helped lead them to conclude that there is one. Basically, they found that certain objects in the Kuiper Belt -- the field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune -- had orbits that peculiarly pointed in the same direction.

研究人员Konstantin Batygin和Mike Brown还没有看见这颗行星，但是其他研究结果让他们确定确实有这颗行星存在。他们基本上发现，柯伊伯带上的物体拥有同样方向的轨道。柯伊伯带是越过海王星充满结冰物体和碎片的地带。

Over time, mathematical modeling and computer simulation led them to the conclusion that a planet was exerting the gravity necessary to shape these orbits.

随着时间流逝，他们利用数学建模和计算机模拟得出了有一颗星球利用其重力来形成这些轨道的结论。

Brown says "there have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. It’s a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that’s still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting."

Brown说：“自古代以来，人类只发现了两颗真实的行星，而这次这颗会成为第三颗。这是太阳系中能够找到的坚固物块，让人十分兴奋。”

Already, Caltech is pretty confident Planet Nine is large enough to rule out any debate about whether it’s a true planet -- unlike Pluto, which got the boot in 2006.

加州理工学院十分自信，认为九号行星足够大，能够驳回一切关于它是否是真实星球的争辩。而冥王星则不同，在2006年被摘去九大行星的名号。

Brown, who played a role in Pluto’s demotion to a dwarf planet, says "all those people who are mad that Pluto is no longer a planet can be thrilled to know that there is a real planet out there still to be found. Now we can go and find this planet and make the solar system have nine planets once again."

Brown曾参与过将冥王星降级为白矮星的工作，他说：“所有为冥王星不再是行星而愤怒的人们会因为知道仍有一颗待于发现的真实行星而激动不已。现在我们能够找到这颗行星，并且再次列出太阳系九大行星。”

Depending on where Planet Nine is in its "bizarre, highly elongated orbit," many telescopes have a shot at finding it. Brown would love to find a planet he helped discover, "but I’d also be perfectly happy if someone else found it. That is why we’re publishing this paper. We hope that other people are going to get inspired and start searching."

根据九号行星处在“奇异且极其细长的轨道”上，许多望远镜都有机会观测到它。Brown很想找到他帮忙发现的行星。他说：“但如果别人找到了它，我也会很高兴。这就是我们出版这篇论文的原因。我们希望别人能够从中得到启发并开始寻找。”