A new study revealed by NASA surprised the scientific community by confirming the discovery of a hidden triple system in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system located beyond Neptune and known for being filled with icy objects.
This discovery, described as unprecedented, was made possible thanks to observations conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope, in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA). The discovered system currently consists of two bodies separated by about 7,600 kilometers (4,722 miles), which were cataloged as "relics of the solar system's creation."
"The results obtained by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope along with the ESA were used", explained Maia Nelsen, a physicist and astronomer at Brigham Young University, who led the research team.
A possible paradigm shift in astronomy
Descubren un "mundo triple" oculto en el sistema solar: hallazgo inédito de la NASA
If this discovery is confirmed, it would be only the second triple system identified in the Kuiper Belt. Its existence challenges previous models about the formation of objects in that region and could indicate that such structures are much more common than previously thought.
The current hypothesis suggests that these systems wouldn't be the product of random encounters between bodies, but rather they would have been born as trios from the gravitational collapse of clusters of material from the protoplanetary disk that surrounded the Sun in its infancy, more than 4.5 billion years ago.
What the Kuiper Belt is and why it's so important
Since its first observation in 1992, the Kuiper Belt has become a key area for understanding the early history of the solar system. Currently, more than 3,000 objects have been identified, although it is estimated that there could be hundreds of thousands more with a diameter greater than 15 kilometers (9.3 miles).
Descubren un "mundo triple" oculto en el sistema solar: hallazgo inédito de la NASA
The most famous object in the region is Pluto, which lost its planet status in 2006 to be reclassified as a "dwarf planet." The discovery of this new triple system brings the region back into the focus of modern astronomy.
NASA will continue its investigations to confirm if this system is composed of three bodies, which would open the door to new theories about the dynamics and formation of the early solar system.
