Chapter 6977 Vulcan Planet

Vulcan!

The term "Vulcan" was proposed by Le Verrier.

As for who Le Verrier was, he was also a well-known figure in the astronomical community. The positions of director of the French Observatory were all fictitious and not worth mentioning. The most famous thing was that he used mathematical methods to calculate the orbit of Neptune and predicted its position on August 31, 1846, and was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London for this, and was highly praised by Engels.

The father of Neptune.

After the discovery of Neptune, Mercury has always had orbital deviations. The orbits calculated by humans are accurate among all the planets in the solar system, except that Mercury has errors every time it moves. This error made Le Verrier wonder whether there is an unknown planet inside Mercury that is interfering with the movement of Mercury.

According to calculations, Le Verrier predicted that the unknown planet would be located between the earth and the sun on a date of transit, and named it Vulcan.

However, the astronomical community has two attitudes on whether Vulcan exists.

Because no matter how you observe, there is no existing Vulcan. Le Verrier's predicted orbit made it impossible for people to observe Vulcan at once, which was disappointing in itself and made people doubt whether there might be another planet inside Mercury.

After all, the distance between Mercury and the solar system is only 57.9 million square kilometers. The sun is eight times larger when viewed from Mercury than from Earth. If there is another planet within this limited distance, it is too close.

Logically speaking, with the gravity of the sun, it is impossible for a planet to exist at such a close distance. Even if there is, it will be swallowed by the sun.

Later, Einstein even introduced the general theory of relativity, arguing that if the sun is regarded as an absolute sphere, then due to the large mass of the sun, Mercury is also subject to a large gravitational effect from it, and the space near it has a large "bend". Later observations supported the "bend" theory, which made the "Vulcan" theory lose supporters for a time.

However, in 1982, astronomers at the University of Arizona in the United States announced to the world: The sun is not absolutely round, and its equatorial diameter is 0.017% larger than the polar diameter. This tiny expansion number is enough to shake the foundation of general relativity. If Einstein's explanation of the deviation of Mercury's orbit from the normal orbit is wrong, then the "Vulcan" between Mercury and the Sun predicted by Le Verrier may exist. So people continue to look for "Vulcan".

But for so many years, including more than 20 explorations of Mercury by the United States, Vulcan has not been found.

Therefore, whether Vulcan exists or not is still ambiguous. All walks of life cannot make an accurate judgment. We can only say that we should continue to explore. But at present, the astronomical community has a negative attitude towards Vulcan.

Although this will not affect Le Verrier's status in the astronomical community, there is still a gap between a person discovering two planets and discovering one. If two planets are discovered, then his status in the astronomical community is the first. The eight planets in the solar system have only discovered one each, and only Le Verrier has discovered two.

This reputation is unparalleled.

Unfortunately, Vulcan has never been discovered.

Of course, Le Verrier also has supporters. For example, the Na'vi in ​​Avatar, directed by James Cameron, a famous Hollywood director, are the voice changes of Le Verrier.

At this moment, Vulcan was finally discovered. However, there was no response when the signal was sent back to Earth. This made everyone quite frustrated. After all, it was regrettable that they could not share this great discovery with all the people on Earth.

In fact, they flew over Mercury and took a lot of photos of Mercury. Their knowledge of Mercury in the past few days is much more than that of humans in the past few decades.

However, these photos are all based on the confidentiality agreement. Only Paul Allen has the right to decide whether to publish them. No one else has the right to publish them. If anyone violates the agreement, he will be isolated immediately and will be kept in confinement until he returns to Earth.

At the same time, he will be punished with extremely expensive money.

Therefore, during the previous period when the signal was unblocked, there was no leakage of secrets. In this regard, with the security force of "Wolf Fang", no one will mess around.

Of course, after all, this is the "Earth", with a huge space and a comfortable environment, so that everyone can enjoy this wonderful space travel. If it weren't for the Earth, most of the people on the Earth wouldn't be qualified to go into space. They cherish it, too. Even if they would sacrifice their lives for it.

Among 6.5 billion people, there will always be some who are willing to devote their lives to the space industry.

"Be careful!" Paul Allen ordered.

Vulcan is 12 million kilometers away from Mercury! The distance between the two sides is very close, which is incredible in astronomy. 12 million kilometers, this distance is too close. However, the distance is just right. Because if it is farther away, it will be close to the sun, and within the absolute gravitational range of the sun, the entire planet will be swallowed up.

As for the size of Vulcan, it is not big, only about half the size of Mercury. The diameter of Mercury is 4,878 kilometers, which is considered small in the solar system. You know, the moon is 3,476 kilometers, but the moon is the satellite of the earth, and the diameter of the earth is 12,756 kilometers, which is several times that.

Then, this Vulcan is even smaller. It is only half the size of the Sun. According to their survey, the diameter of Vulcan is only 2,356 kilometers. This head is too small, too small for a planet.

However, according to Paul Allen's calculations, it can just slightly affect the movement of Mercury, causing a slight deviation in its orbit.

But this Vulcan is a bit weird, that is, it is too round.

Yes, too round!

Although it is said that under the influence of gravity, all planets and stars will be round, the most stable structure. However, this world is not perfect. No matter what planet, including gaseous stars such as the sun, it cannot be a true circle. However, Vulcan is extremely round.

This kind of circle does not need to be measured, just by observing it with the naked eye, you will know that it is very round. Moreover, it is surprising that there are no potholes on it, and the surface is extremely flat.

Of course, this is also easy to understand. Because it is too close to the sun, all meteorites are attracted by the sun's gravity and fall on the sun, so they will naturally not hurt Vulcan.

However, it is still surprising that it is so round.