Everyone remembers when Pluto was redefined as a “dwarf planet” and the solar system was reduced to only having eight planets in orbit. This new understanding of the planets has since been accepted by science and the general population. However, recent evidence might suggest another ninth planet lurking deep within the solar system.
There is reoccurring, circumstantial evidence that might suggest a ninth planet that is orbiting far past Neptune. Unfortunately, no human telescope has been able to capture this planet in a photo. Surhud More, a University of Tokyo astronomer, is confident that every photo taken of the solar system has the potential to carry Planet Nine within the exposure.
Whether or not Planet Nine truly exists is still a large question; however, California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown remains quite confident. Brown is sure that someone will discover this ninth planet very soon. One of the biggest roadblocks preventing discovery is that many believe this planet isn’t visible from the current observatories.
The first piece of evidence suggesting the existence of Planet Nine was the discovery of several ice-planets located in the far reaches of the solar system. These ice-planets were following a very similar orbital path around the sun, suggesting the presence of a much larger celestial object. When a number of objects exhibit an identical or similar orbit, than there is something nearby that must be pushing that direction.
Two astronomers at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington made a prediction in 2016 that this ‘perturber’ follows an orbit 100-1,000 times farther from the sun and weighs 5-20 times Earth’s mass. These predictions are based off some major observations that Konstantin Batygin and Scott Sheppard were able to make from two years of gathering data about the mysterious body.
The difficulty with seeing anything this far from the sun is the lack of light. Anything that lies twice as far from the sun as the Earth appears 16 times dimmer. The amount of sunlight reaching this distance is significantly reduced on the way out and the way back.
The quest for Planet Nine will continue as scientists continue to gather more information surrounding this mysterious object. Despite the current evidence of some gravitational force, NASA is maintaining their current view of the eight-planet view of the Solar System. The search for this planet isn’t fruitless as several other discoveries are turning up in the process.
