A team of scientists claims to have evidence that there is another hidden planet – nicknamed ‘Planet 9’ – lurking in our solar system.
Of course, there have been changes to the number of planets in our solar system over recent – in space terms, anyway – years, as Pluto is no longer considered a proper planet.
Seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?
However, a team of astronomers now believe that they have the strongest evidence yet that there is another mysterious planet hovering around our sun.
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The theory that there could be other planets orbiting our star has been around for years, as scientists have noticed some unusual phenomena on the edge of the solar system that suggest the existence of another celestial body.
The theory that another planet is responsible would also explain the orbit of other objects that are outliers in our system, sitting more than 250 times Earth’s distance from the sun.
Scientist Konstantin Bogytin and his team have long been proponents of this ‘Planet 9’ theory, and now they believe they have ‘the strongest statistical evidence yet that Planet 9 is really out there’.
As we know, it wouldn’t be the only strange thing in our solar system.
Perhaps they just need to point a massive space telescope at it and they’ll find evidence of alien life out there.
This new study by Bogytin and his team focused on a number of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) that lie outside the orbit of Neptune towards the outer reaches of our solar system.
In analyzing the movements of these objects – which can be affected by the orbit of Neptune, as well as passing stars and the ‘galactic tide’ – the scientists concluded that there could be another unseen planet out there.
Dr Bogytin pointed out that there are other potential explanations for the behavior of these objects, but – he believes – Planet 9 is the best bet.
Once the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile becomes active, we might get the best look we’ve had yet.
In a paper, the team wrote: “This upcoming phase of exploration promises to provide critical insights into the mysteries of our solar system’s outer reaches.”
That paper, entitled ‘Generation of Low-Inclination, Neptune-Crossing TNOs by Planet Nine’ is available to read here.
Images in this article were generated using AI
