The Cosmic Mystery of Planetary Orbits Recent research suggests a large cosmic object, perhaps a wandering planet or brown dwarf, may have drastically altered the orbits of the four outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—approximately 4 billion years ago. This revelation offers a compelling explanation for the unusual paths taken by these distant giants. Traditionally, planetary formation theories envision an orderly arrangement, where planets have nearly circular orbits lying in a single plane. However, the outer planets deviate from this ideal, exhibiting peculiar orbital shapes that have puzzled researchers for years. While some studies focused on interactions among these planets,