A team of researchers believes they have found the most convincing evidence to date for the existence of a hidden planet, which may be Planet Nine. According to a recent study, this planet, possibly located in the Kuiper Belt, is small, with a mass between 1.5 and 3 times that of Earth. "It could be an icy, rocky Earth, or a super-Pluto. Due to its large mass, it would have a great internal energy that could sustain, for example, subsurface oceans. Its orbit would be very distant, much beyond Neptune, and much more inclined compared to the known planets," Patryk Sofia Lykawka, associate professor of Planetary Sciences at Kindai University in Japan and co-author of the study, said according to El Tiempo.
Other researchers, such as Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown, argue that an unseen planet several times larger than Earth could be "shepherding" smaller objects in the solar system. Batygin and Brown, strong advocates that Planet Nine exists, have been working on the search for Planet Nine since 2014, conducting computer simulations to test their theories against the presence of the hidden planet. They theorize that its gravitational pull, a "super-Earth" object about five to seven times the mass of Earth, may be altering the paths of distant bodies in the Kuiper Belt. Michael Brown suggested that Planet Nine could be significantly larger, possibly ten times its mass.
The potential existence of Planet Nine first gained scientific traction in 2016 when Brown and Batygin proposed that an unseen planet could explain the unusual orbits of certain Kuiper Belt objects, generating controversies and several opposing theories. They were inspired by a study by astronomer Scott Sheppard, who, along with Chadwick Trujillo, first noticed that the orbits of several known trans-Neptunian objects were strangely clustered.
"Since Neptune was successfully discovered in 1846, at least 30 astronomers have proposed the existence of various types of trans-Neptunian objects and have always been wrong," said Batygin, a professor of Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology, according to El Tiempo.
For over a decade, scientists have been searching for hidden planets in the Kuiper Belt, focusing on peculiar gravitational anomalies and unusual orbital patterns. The influence of an unseen, massive object, referred to as the planet's "gravitational attraction," is suggested by gravitational anomalies observed in the orbits of distant bodies. Astronomers hope that these unusual orbital patterns may eventually lead to Planet Nine's precise location.
Advances in telescope technology and data analysis have provided scientists with more tools to investigate the mystery of Planet Nine. With growing advancements in observational technology and collaborations across the globe, scientists are optimistic about finding Planet Nine. Only until the end of 2025 will NASA's new telescope, capable of surveying the entire night sky, determine if a new planet exists or not. As new telescopes come online and data accumulates, researchers like Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin believe that a definitive answer could emerge within the next decade.
Sources: Gadgets360, El Tiempo
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq