美科學家稱發現太陽系第九行星大綱
Researchers are now pretty certain there's a ninth planet in the solar system.
研究人員如今相當確定，太陽系中存在着第九顆行星。
Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, two CalTech scientists, say the new planet is about 10 times the mass of Earth and has an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Science magazine reports that the mysterious "Planet X" moves in a distant orbit beyond Neptune.
兩名來自加利福尼亞理工學院的科學家康斯坦丁·巴特金和邁克·布朗，稱新行星的質量大約是地球的十倍，其大氣中有含有氫和氦。據《科學》雜誌報道，這顆神祕的X行星的運行軌道遠在海王星之外。
The researchers haven't observed Planet X itself, but believe it exists because of the unique configuration of six objects when they come closest to the sun, according to Science.
《科學》稱，儘管研究人員目前尚未觀測到X行星的本尊，但他們在近距離觀測太陽時發現六個星體的排位很奇特，因此他們確信一定存在X行星。
The scientists say that there's a 0.007 percent probability that the configuration is due to chance, and instead are confident it's a ninth planet. They believe they will observe the planet with a telescope within five years, according to The Associated Press.
科學家稱，這樣奇特的排位若是純屬巧合，其機率僅爲0.007%，因此他們堅信這一定是因爲有第九顆行星存在的緣故。美聯社稱，科學家們相信五年內他們一定能用望遠鏡觀測到這個行星。
So where did this possible planet come from? Scientists have previously speculated that there could be a missing planet in our solar system, with some theorizing that a collision caused it to be ejected out of our system some 4 billion years ago. That collision may have been with Jupiter.
那麼這顆可能存在的行星到底來自哪裏呢？科學家們曾根據理論研究猜測，大約四十億年前的一場碰撞將一顆行星彈出太陽系，從此這顆行星便下落不明。碰撞的另一顆行星可能是木星。
"Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we become increasingly convinced that it is out there," Batygin said in a statement. "There is solid evidence that the solar system's planetary census is incomplete."
“雖然一開始我們對這顆行星的存在持懷疑態度，但是隨着我們進一步研究其運行軌道以及其對外太陽系的影響，我們越來越確信它的存在。”巴特金在一份陳述中如是說道，“有確切證據表明，行星普查的數據並不完整。”
Batygin and Brown described their findings in The Astronomical Journal on Wednesday.
20日，巴特金和布朗在《天文學期刊》中闡述了他們的發現。
The discovery is also the second time that Brown has reshaped the way we think about the solar system. In 2005, he made a key discovery that led scientists to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet. In a statement on Wednesday, Brown -- whose Twitter handle is @plutokiller -- alluded to the role he played in getting Pluto declassified, noting that the new discovery was 5,000 times the mass of Pluto and was definitely a planet.
這個新發現也是布朗第二次改變我們對太陽系的看法。2005年，他的一項重要發現引導科學家們將冥王星重新歸類爲矮行星。布朗的推特名是冥王星殺手（@plutokiller），暗示自己在推翻冥王星地位這一事件中起主要作用；他於20日發表的一份陳述中說道，這次的新發現，其質量是冥王星的5000倍，因此它絕對是一顆行星。
"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," he said.
布朗說：“冥王星的行星地位被推翻後，許多人很生氣，不過現在有一顆真正的新行星正等待着去發現，這可有他們樂呵的啦。”
