Chapter 121 Let's Change Our Angle
After searching for many times without success, everyone's morale was not as high as it was at the beginning.
"No wonder they are unwilling to grant us research funding. This topic is indeed not as easy as we imagined. If it really doesn't work out, we should just settle for the next best thing and look for some other celestial bodies, or just write a review or something."
Luo Wenkun didn't want to give up easily, but if there was no progress, he couldn't just submit a blank paper.
"It seems that the topic I chose is too big. Although there are many things worth analyzing in these data, the main ones have already been analyzed by them, and it is difficult for us to discover anything new from them. I don’t know how to spend this ten thousand yuan research fund." Lin Shi said helplessly.
Lou Song did not participate in their discussions, but focused on software programming and modeling.
At this time, Xu You felt that he should change his thinking.
"I think we may be heading in the wrong direction. Maybe we can try to change our thinking. Let's stop for a moment and discuss the future direction together."
After hearing what Xu You said, Lin Shi and Luo Wenkun stopped complaining and walked to Xu You's side.
Lou Song also stopped his work and wanted to hear what new ideas Xu You had.
"We are now much more skilled in analyzing celestial bodies than we were at the beginning. But in fact, the methods we use are no different from those of normal astronomers. Even our equipment is not as professional as that of normal astronomers. With this approach, it is really difficult for us to make any breakthroughs."
Everyone agreed with Xu You's point of view.
But if not, is there any better way?
"Let me sort out my thoughts. First of all, we are certain that there is a high probability that such an unknown celestial body exists in the solar system. We have already calculated its mass and orbital radius. But we are not sure about the specific type of this celestial body. Is this so-called Planet-X a planet or another type of celestial body?"
In fact, everyone is clear about what Xu You said.
Based on the known conditions, we can only calculate the mass and orbital radius of the unknown celestial body.
Apart from this, its volume, density and other conditions are not clear.
"Now, let's think about this question from another angle. Why is it that everyone is almost certain of the existence of Planet-X and is looking for it? But after so many years, no scientific research institution has announced that it has found Planet-X?"
After hearing what Xu You said, everyone fell into deep thought.
"There are still many possibilities. It may be that Planet-X has been hiding behind a celestial body and is blocked, so it cannot be observed." Luo Wenkun said.
"Compared to other planets, Planet-X is still too far away from us . As a result, the difficulty of searching increases exponentially, and it is not so easy to find."
Lin Shi's words also make sense. According to calculations, the average orbital radius of Planet-X is 20 times that of Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun among the eight known planets in the solar system.
At such a long distance, the search area required is indeed quite huge.
"It's also possible that Planet-X doesn't exist at all." Lou Song said with a smile.
After hearing what Lou Song said, Lin Shi and Luo Wenkun felt a little embarrassed.
If you think it doesn't exist, why did you agree to choose this topic in the first place?
"Don't get me wrong, Lou Song was just telling a joke. Just get used to it." Xu You quickly explained.
"Isn't it funny?" Lou Song said, scratching his head.
"Ha, haha, hahaha, that's quite funny."
"Yes, Lou Song, you are really humorous!"
Xu You also shook his head helplessly.
It seems that even geniuses have areas where they are not good at.
After calming down, Xu You continued:
"Let's assume that the density of Planet-X is similar to that of the Earth. Because the mass of Planet-X is about 10 times that of the Earth. In this case, we can estimate that the radius of Planet-X is about 2.15 times that of the Earth."
"Because we don't know the exact density of Planet-X yet. But the Earth is already the densest planet among the eight planets in the solar system. If the hypothesis that Planet-X is a planet is true, then its radius is likely to be larger than the estimate just now."
"It's actually quite strange that such a celestial body has not been discovered yet. So let's analyze all the possibilities listed just now one by one."
"First, Planet-X has always been hiding behind a certain celestial body. This possibility is very small, because the orbital radius of Planet-X is very large. If there is another celestial body that can always block Planet-X, then it must also exist near Planet-X and be larger than Planet-X. If this is the case, the other celestial body would have been discovered long ago. Obviously, this is not true."
"That makes sense. I'll rule this out first."
"The next possibility is that it is too far away from us and the search area is too large. This possibility still exists, but I don't think it is particularly high. For a celestial body larger than the Earth, this distance is not too far. It should be a planet that can be observed with human beings' current observation capabilities. If it has not been found after so many years, I think this reason is still very questionable."
"Finally, what Lou Song said, Planet-X does not exist at all. I admit that you win, Lou Song, and I cannot deny this reason."
After hearing this, Lou Song also smiled. This is indeed completely possible.
"Of course, since we have decided to explore Planet-X, the premise is that it must exist. After we rule out all these situations, think about whether there are other possibilities?"
After listening to Xu You's words, everyone was thinking hard.
"Xu You, do you have any ideas?" Lin Shi asked.
Lin Shi felt that since Xu You had already denied the previous possibilities, he must have his own ideas.
"What do you think? Is there a possibility that Planet-X is actually a very small celestial body?"
The three were somewhat surprised to hear Xu You's opinion.
"A very small celestial body... Do you mean that Planet-X might be a black hole?" Lin Shi asked.
Luo Wenkun also has some doubts about this view.
"If you say so, this black hole is too small. The smallest black hole known so far has a mass three times that of the sun. Is it really possible for such a small black hole to exist?"
"Yes, a primordial black hole!" Lou Song said excitedly.
A primordial black hole is a hypothetical black hole.
Theoretically, the volume of a primordial black hole can be as small as an atom, but its mass can be as high as one billion tons.
