The trans-Neptunian objects 2004 VN112 and 2013 RF98 are part of a small but important group of bodies whose orbits were used to justify the existence of planet X. The orbital characteristics of these objects in general have a number of suspicious similarities, which made it possible to put forward a version that they could have been part of a dual system.
During the 2004 VN112 and 2013 RF98 series of observations, it turned out that the objects have very similar spectra. This means that, with a very high degree of probability, at one time these bodies were indeed in one bundle. Why did it break up? Most likely, the reason lies in the same planet X.
Modeling showed that a pair of 2004 VN112 and 2013 RF98 should have dispersed under the influence of gravity of a distant object with a mass of 10 - 20 Earths and a semi-major axis of an orbit of 300 - 600 AU. These numbers fit perfectly into the estimated characteristics of the planet. The decay should have occurred between 5 and 10 million years ago.
Astronomers Esther Linder and Christoph Mordasini from the University of Bern (Switzerland) came to the following conclusions about the physical and chemical properties of this celestial body. The radius is 3.7 times that of the Earth. The temperature of the atmosphere, consisting of hydrogen and helium, is minus 226 degrees Celsius. Under the gas envelope there is a layer of water ice with a temperature of minus 63 degrees Celsius. Even deeper - a thin layer of silicate mantle, under which an iron core is hidden. Its temperature is estimated at 3.4 thousand degrees Celsius. According to astronomers, Planet X emits about a thousand times more energy than it absorbs and is gradually cooling down. Scientists believe that Planet X is a smaller copy of the gas giants Uranus and Neptune.
American astronomers believe that the color of Planet X is dark blue, darker than Neptune, which has a dark blue hue in the optical range, and Uranus with its light blue gaseous envelope. Since the temperatures on Planet X are extremely low, there is practically no methane gas in the atmosphere, unlike the gas envelope of Neptune. This compound, according to scientists, condenses and is located at the base of the planet's atmosphere or its clouds.
Planet X, according to astronomers, is capable of disturbing the orbits of celestial bodies in the solar system and throwing them out of it. Scientists analyzed the influence of Planet X on the motion of six extreme objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, the semi-major axis of which exceeds 150 astronomical units, and the perihelion is 30 astronomical units.
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Simulations have shown that the orbits of the dwarf planet Sedna and candidate 2012 VP113 will remain stable for the next several hundred million years. On the other hand, the trajectories of the trans-Neptunian objects 2004 VN112, 2007 TG422 and 2013 RF98 (these celestial bodies reach 100-300 kilometers in diameter) are unstable and they can be thrown out of the Solar system by Planet X.
Also, the influence of Planet X, French and Brazilian astronomers explained the inclination of the Laplace plane of the solar system. Scientists examined the dynamics of the four giant planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Each of these celestial bodies affects the total angular momentum vector of the solar system, perpendicular to the Laplace plane. Astronomers have studied the impact of Planet X on the Sun and giant planets. It turned out that this effect explains the tilt of six degrees between the Laplace plane and the plane of the solar equator.
The analytical model describes the amount of tilt depending on mass, eccentricity (orbital elongation parameter), semi-major axis of the orbit of Planet X and characteristics of giants. A few days before the publication of this discovery, astronomer Elizabeth Bailey presented similar conclusions in collaboration with the discoverers of Planet X.
Astrophysicists Daniel Whitmeier and John Mats of the United States have blamed Planet X for the mass extinction of animals on Earth every 27 million years. The theory is based on the fact that the orbit of Planet X's rotation around the Sun slowly tilts and crosses the Kuiper belt (located 30 to 55 AU from the Sun every 27 million years). This leads to gravitational disturbances, and Planet X pushes comets from the Kuiper belt into the interior of the solar system. They bombard the planets (including the Earth). As they approach the Sun, they disintegrate into fragments, making it difficult for sunlight to reach celestial bodies (including the Earth).
According to scientists, this scenario is the most acceptable for a cosmic explanation of the mass extinction of animals. Two other scenarios - the presence of a second star next to the Sun and vertical oscillations of the star as it rotates around the center of the galaxy, as the authors note, do not receive paleontological confirmation. For the first time, Whitmeier and Mats proposed their hypothesis in 1985. Their research was published by Nature and Time (with picture on the cover). According to the initial hypothesis of scientists, Planet X is 1-5 times heavier than Earth and is located a hundred times farther from the Sun.
Astronomers Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos believe that there are not one, but two super-Earths outside Pluto's orbit. The available data on the perihelion precession of Sedna, 148209, 2004 VN112, 2007 TG422, 2010 GB174, 2012 VP113 and 2013 RF98, are, according to the authors' work, a good explanation if we assume the presence of at least two giant celestial bodies, one of which may be a Planet X. Since 2014, Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos have been talking about the possibility of existence outside Pluto of two super-Earths.
All conclusions about Planet X are not based on direct observations, but on the analysis of its impact on other celestial bodies and computer simulation data.