PLANET Nine is a hypothetical Super-Earth believed to be lurking on the outer reaches of the solar system – and astronomers are now increasingly confident of discovering Planet Nine within the next decade.
Astronomers are pushing the envelope when it comes to understanding the solar system’s extremities. Researchers last week announced the discovery of the most far-flung planet, fitting dubbed “Farfarout”, as it lies 93 million miles (150 million km) from the Sun. And the shock find is adding to the weight of evidence tantalisingly hinting at the existence of an elusive super-Earth lurking in the fringes of our solar system, known as Planet Nine.
After 400 years of looking, astronomers have discovered only two large objects that would have been unknown to our forefathers – Uranus in 1781 and Neptune in 1846.
The tantalising possibility of finding an unknown planet out of observational reach has always attracted astronomers, but few have been successful.
The planet Neptune was discovered after astronomers noticed other planets were being gravitationally attracted by an unknown mass.
And the hunt continued into the 20th century after Neptune’s discovery failed to resolve slight discrepancies.
This culminated in Pluto’s discovery in 1930, but the find turned out to be too small to account for the attraction.
Planet Nine earned its name because Pluto is no longer officially considered a major planet and was first postulated by Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown three years ago.
Planet Nine’s existence could explain the odd orbits of some objects in the Kuiper Belt.
The orbits of these small bodies cluster together in a manner which suggests a larger and more distant planet has been affecting them with a relatively strong gravitational pull.
Although Caltech astronomer Mike Brown admitted his latest paper does not prove Planet 9’s existence, he added: “It does indicate the hypothesis rests upon a solid foundation.”
Other astronomers have gone further, calculating the likelihood of Planet 9 not existing as only 1 in 500.
If real, Planet 9 is estimated to be about five to 10 times the mass of Earth, possibly making it similar to super-Earth-type exoplanets – larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.
If Planet 9 exists, it will most likely travel on an elongated orbit, taking it up to 400 times the distance of Earth from the sun.
The orbit is also calculated to be 15 to 20 degrees off the main orbital plane in which most of the other planets orbit.
If a Planet 9 is found, it will be one of the most exciting space discoveries ever.
Since Pluto lost its major planet status in 2006, Neptune has been considered the most distant large planet from the sun in our solar system.
And if that is not the case and Planet 9 exists, it will provide astronomers with an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about how our solar system originated and evolved.
