Our Solar System is home to numerous incredible aspects, and the main one is by far the presence of complex life forms on our planet. But even so, scientists still discover new things that leave them speechless, and they will probably always do.
According to ScienceAlert.com, astronomers had used data gathered by the Dark Energy Survey to find 815 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in the Kuiper Belt, and 461 of these objects are unknown.
A better understanding of the birth of the Solar System?
Scientists are optimistic that the discovery could lead the way to a better understanding of how the Solar System was born.
The scientists wrote in their study paper:
This catalog has 817 confirmed objects (461 first discovered in this work),
This is the second largest TNO catalog from a single survey to date, as well as the largest catalog with multi-band photometry.
The funny thing is that the initial intention for the Dark Energy Survey was not to find TNOs. The purpose was to gather observations to try calculating the acceleration of the Universe’s expansion. Dark Energy is considered the main “engine” behind the expansion itself, although its nature is pretty much still a mystery.
If it weren’t for dark energy, the expansion of the Universe would decelerate instead of accelerating. Gravity itself would pull everything back towards the starting point. But from the beginning of the 20th century, astronomers discovered, due to the work of Edwin Hubble, that the Universe is expanding. Furthermore, scientists concluded over time that the Universe is expanding at an even faster speed than the speed of light, which, at first glance, looks like a violation of the laws of physics. But that’s not the case!
