Into Unscientific

  Chapter 285 A challenge to the starry sky! (superior)

   It was introduced before.

  In the original history.

  In 1781.

  William Herschel first discovered Uranus.

  But because its orbit does not conform to the law of universal gravitation, and there are large errors.

  So after some years, Le Verrier independently calculated the existence of Neptune.

   But soon, the astronomical community discovered another problem:

  Neptune still can only explain about 70% of the orbital anomalies of Uranus.

  So people think that there should be another planet in the outer orbit of Neptune.

  Finally, Tombaugh discovered its existence in 1930, which is the famous Pluto.

be honest.

   In the beginning, Pluto did fill the remaining 30% of the gap statistically.

  So the astronomy community began to open champagne, and it has been open for more than 40 years.

   But when James Christie discovered Charon on June 22, 1978, astronomers were suddenly surprised.

   It seems that my champagne was opened a little early, and the three-goal lead at halftime was turned over by someone? !

  The International Astronomical Union officially announced Christie's discovery to the world on July 7, 1978, and named Charon Charon in 1985.

   Also worth mentioning.

  Although radio telescopes had appeared in 1978, the NOFS used by James Christie was still a standard reflecting telescope.

   And its caliber is only 61 inches, which is 1.55 meters.

  It was mentioned in the previous chapter.

   In terms of the distance between Pluto and Earth.

  A satellite that can be observed by non-radio astronomical telescopes must not be too small.

  Finally, the astronomical community determined that the diameter of Charon is about half that of Pluto through the calculation of mutual occultation and transit of Pluto and Charon between 1985 and 1990.

   These two objects are tidally locked to each other, forming a double dwarf planet system.

   That is to say.

  Their centers of mass lie beyond Pluto.

This is equivalent to two celestial bodies forming a conceptual "combined planet". The gravitational force exerted by this combined planet will not match the orbit of Uranus. Sandy example.

   In other words.

  The discovery of Pluto is actually a mathematical coincidence

  Affected by this, astronomers will start observing Kuiper belt objects.

  The next thing is the discovery of six celestial bodies: Sedna, 2004VN112, 2007TG422, 2010GB174, 2012VP113, and 2013RFS99.

  Their orbits have some kind of subtle coincidence, and it is highly suspected that they have been pulled by some external force.

  So the astronomy community made a guess that there may be a previously undiscovered giant planet or an orange-sized black hole in the Oort Nebula area.

Of course.

  Considering the fact that some idiots, ahem, and few students have insufficient knowledge reserves for astronomical observation, here is another knowledge popularization.

   That’s how scientists actually look for exoplanets — and planets here include asteroids.

   The observation method of exoplanets has been introduced once before, so it will be omitted here.

   In short, it is the Doppler method and the transit method, and there are also microgravitational lenses and coronagraphs, etc.

   As for exoplanets, the method is very simple:

most of the time.

  Stars basically do not move in the sky, but planets change their positions at a certain angular velocity.

  So just use the image automatic search software to compare the images of a certain period—for example, within half a year or a year, and then filter out the stars with an angular velocity greater than a certain arc second.

  Generally speaking.

  The domestic default value is above 1.3 arc seconds per hour.

  International is 1.5 arc seconds per hour.

  Because of the ignorance of this method, many people have a misunderstanding:

  Asteroids and exoplanets are photographed by telescopes like Hubble.

   Inner system objects that are farther than Pluto, they cannot be seen by ordinary astronomical telescopes.

  This thinking is very wrong.

for example.

  I mentioned Eris before, and it is 97 astronomical units away from the earth-150 million kilometers per astronomical unit, which is 2.5 times that of Pluto.

   Guess what size the telescope Mike Brown found it in?

  The answer is a 1.2-meter reflective telescope, and the production process is at a level that can be reached in 1780—but some improvements have been made in the optical path.

   But this has nothing to do with craftsmanship, it has to do with design ideas.

  So it doesn't mean that a planet is so far away from the earth that it cannot be observed by ordinary telescopes.

   Without considering the detailed screen.

   It is meaningless to discuss how far an optical instrument can see.

if you are willing to.

   Refractor telescopes can even see anything up to +12.6 magnitude out to 180 AU—albeit as a tiny spot.

  But if you don’t pass rigorous data analysis, you will never know what planet you see.

   So screening stars, this is the most complicated place to find exoplanets.

   As said before.

  You choose a good weather to take a picture of the sky, maybe the ninth or tenth largest planet in the solar system is captured in the photo, but you have no idea what that thing is.

  Whether it is Weber or Hubble, there is also the Sky Eye of Huaxia Guizhou.

  These radio telescopes are used to observe extrasolar objects most of the time.

  Intra-system stars generally take millions of photos and filter out images with displacement by computer, and then calculate their orbits.

   Then follow the orbit to deduce which star region it may appear in at a certain moment on a certain day, how much more right ascension and declination.

   Confirm the above information.

  A 1.4-meter-caliber astronomical telescope of the 1800s is enough to spot it.

well, let's get back to business.

all in all.

   According to the information currently available.

  The "ninth planet" of the solar system is indeed a controversial topic, and it is definitely not the type of Minke. (In the past few days, many readers have asked why the ninth planet has not been discovered if it really exists. Do you search for the Oort Nebula? Its radius is one light-year. The solar system is really not that small, Maomao sighs. JPG)

But on the other hand.

  This concept is a cutting-edge problem for the scientific community in 2022, let alone 1850.

   According to Xu Yun's plan.

  My mission is very simple, as long as I assist Gauss to find Pluto, I will be done.

   In the future, Charon, Eris, and Makemake will be left to future generations.

  But who knew that Mai Mai didn't talk about martial arts ethics, so he made such a big news? ? ? ?

   Then Riemann hesitated for a moment and asked Gauss:

   "Teacher, what shall we do next? Continue to calculate that new celestial body?"

   "Continue calculation?"

   Gauss glanced at his students, sighed, shook his head and said:

   "It's easy to say, what do we use to continue to calculate the position of celestial bodies?"

   As he spoke, he shook the calculation paper on his hand, on which were engraved several equations:

   "We only have the orbital formula of Conan's star. In addition, the size of the companion star and the position of the center of mass of the combined star are not clear. What can we use to derive more distant planets?"

   "Not to mention that today's astronomical telescopes are still somewhat insufficient in accuracy. Although data calculation is more important in exploring celestial bodies, the imaging effect of telescopes is particularly important when observation records are limited."

  Gauss' remarks are not difficult to understand.

   Imagine that you are a fisherman looking for the biggest whale in the oceans of the earth.

  If you can know at what latitude and longitude it is 500 meters below the sea surface, then ordinary sonar can scan it.

  But if you don't know its location.

  It can only pump water globally, and the pumps required are obviously technically demanding.

  The same reason.

  Whether Gauss can discover the real ninth planet after having the relevant conditions is not discussed yet.

  But if the relevant conditions are not up to standard, then he will definitely not be able to discover that planet.

   As he spoke, Gauss glanced at Xu Yun again.

   His face turned bitter, he put on a dying expression, and sighed:

   "Hey, it's a pity, a pity, I don't know how many years I can live with this body, maybe I won't be able to calculate that planet before I die."

  Xu Yun: "."

  Prince of Mathematics, can your acting skills be any more fake?

   Then he sighed slightly.

  Although Gauss's words are a bit misleading, to some extent, they are also true words.

   Follow the historical trajectory.

   In another two or three years, Gauss' physical condition will deteriorate sharply.

   Finally died five years later.

   If no variable is present.

  In two to three years, neither mathematics nor astronomical instruments will change much.

  Think here.

  Xu Yun couldn't help but glance at Gauss.

   Good guy.

  After thinking about it for less than half a minute, the little old man was already telling Riemann what music to play at his funeral.

  “.”

   Then Xu Yun took a deep breath, came to Gauss, and asked solemnly:

   "Professor Gauss, do you really decide to do this?"

  Xu Yun's question was a bit tactful, and seemed a bit like a riddle.

   But he can be sure that Gauss will understand what he means.

   This is actually not a question sentence, it also contains a reminder that Xu Yun has the identity of a time traveler.

  Because Xu Yun has no doubts about one thing:

  Once he handed something to Gauss, the prince of mathematics will definitely devote all his energy and unreservedly to that possible planet.

   But the problem is

   Compared to Gaussian expectations.

  Xu Yun is really not very optimistic about the prospect of exploring the true ninth planet.

   This planet is a controversial topic in 2022, and there are not many people who hold negative attitudes.

   In 2021, when Huaxia's Guizhou Sky Eye was looking for a pulsar, it took a planning cycle to find that planet.

  In addition, NASA's WISE has also been responsible for the search for new planets for a long time. In 2021, it spent 1,563 hours exploring new planets in the system, which is close to 18% of the year.

  But whether it’s Sky Eye or WISE.

  They never get anything.

  The level of technology in 2022 is still the same, and it is now in 1850.

   With a passion for it, can this really happen?

  Gauss obviously understood what Xu Yun meant, so he put away his playful expression.

   He pondered for a moment, then suddenly said:

   "Student Luo Feng, have you heard my story?"

   Then without waiting for Xu Yun to speak, he continued:

  “My grandfather was a gardener, and my father was a cement maker. My family was very poor since I was a child.”

  “When I was a child, my father only hoped that I could inherit his mantle and paint and tile the walls and tiles of the homes of the big men.”

   "To be honest, I didn't know the meaning of the word 'fate' at the time, but I had a gut feeling—this is not the life I want."

  “So I studied hard to let people realize my talent.”

  “When my light was dazzling enough, my father was finally moved and sent me to school while in debt.”

   Then Gao paused, glanced at the thoughtful Xu Yun, and continued:

   "Later, when I entered the University of Göttingen to study, I met a descendant of an aristocrat, and was despised by him for his origin."

   "I was a little upset when I got angry, and it took me a week to calculate the problem of drawing a regular heptagon with a ruler and a compass."

   "Later, without any predecessors leading the way, I summarized 27 theorems named after me—to tell you the truth, there are still a bunch of unpublished things hidden in my manuscript."

   "So student Luo Feng, do you understand what I mean?"

  Xu Yun thought for a moment, and asked tentatively:

   "Are you trying to say that you have created so many miracles in the end because of your unyielding perseverance and continuous hard work?"

   Gauss glanced at him, shook his head and said:

   "You are wrong, what I want to say is that I am actually a genius."

   "I don't perform miracles, because I am a miracle."

   "A miracle bigger and brighter than the existence of unknown planets in our solar system."

Note:

  Grandma is hospitalized again, the situation is a bit bad, so today is short.

  (end of this chapter)