In the distant reaches of our solar system, past Neptune's orbit, something peculiar is happening.

Certain objects are behaving unexpectedly in their orbits, and the reasons behind this phenomenon remain elusive.

The prevailing theory attributes this orbital irregularity to an unseen celestial body named Planet Nine. Astronomers are actively engaged in unraveling the mysteries surrounding this potential ninth planet. However, previously, physicists proposed an alternative explanation that seems more plausible.

According to astrophysicists Antranik Sefilian from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and Jihad Touma from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, the disturbances in the orbits may result from the combined gravitational influence of numerous smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt or trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), rather than a single massive entity. While the idea isn't entirely new, Sefilian and Touma were the first to provide a comprehensive explanation of the peculiar orbits through their calculations.

The notion of Planet Nine gained attention in 2016 when astronomers studying dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt noticed certain TNOs deviating from the anticipated gravitational pull of the solar system's gas giants. These objects displayed circular orbits distinct from the rest of the Kuiper Belt, hinting at the presence of an undiscovered massive object influencing their trajectories.

Despite the intriguing concept, the elusive Planet Nine remains hidden, and unsurprising given the inherent difficulty of locating objects in distant, dark regions. The lack of concrete findings has led scientists to explore alternative explanations.

Sefilian and Touma developed independent computational models of TNOs, considering the gravitational pulls of the solar system's major planets and the extensive ring of small celestial debris encircling Neptune.

By adjusting factors such as mass, eccentricity, and orientation of celestial rings, the researchers successfully generated clustered loop orbits influenced by the gravitational effects of separated TNOs. This resolved a challenge faced by the University of Colorado Boulder when the collective gravity hypothesis was initially proposed, as it failed to explain why the orbits were uniformly tilted.

However, both models encounter a common obstacle: to produce the observed effects, the Kuiper Belt would require a mass equivalent to several Earths. Current estimates, though, suggest that the Kuiper Belt comprises only 4 to 10 percent of Earth's mass. Solar system models propose a more substantial mass for the Kuiper Belt, leading Sefilian to suggest that the true nature of the belt might be obscured, with potentially more undetected small objects than currently observed.