It’s been six years since astronomers found strong evidence that a mysterious ninth planet may exist in the far reaches of our solar system.
But the so-called theoretical world – called Planet X – has yet to be seen by anyone, and in the meantime it remains just that, a theory.
If it’s real, scientists say it could have a mass about 10 times that of Earth and could take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make one full orbit around the sun.
The reason they think Planet X is there is because they can see other objects in space affected by it. So are they any closer to solving the mystery? MailOnline looks at where the world of astronomy currently stands on the issue.
Weird: It’s been six years since astronomers found strong evidence that a ninth planet may exist in the far reaches of our solar system. So are they any closer to solving the mystery of Planet X? MailOnline looks at where the world of astronomy currently stands on the issue
What is so mysterious about Planet X?
Planet X, or Planet Nine as it’s also called, is a theoretical planet that some astronomers believe could be lurking at the very edge of our solar system.
The reason they think this is because the orbits of a number of bodies in the far reaches of our solar system have been perturbed by the pull of something, most likely an as-yet-unidentified ninth planet.
The problem is that no one has actually seen this potential world – its existence is based purely on mathematics.
There are many fascinating things about this possible Planet X, but chief among them is that its hypothetical orbit would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete one trip around the sun. Pictured is how this orbit would compare to the other eight planets
In 2015, Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown announced new research that provided compelling evidence for a giant planet following an unusual, elongated orbit in the outer solar system.
If it exists, the data and computer modeling suggest that Planet X should be roughly four times the size of Earth and ten times its mass.
The theory is that a body of that size and mass would explain the clustered paths of some smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of icy debris that extends far beyond Neptune’s orbit.
There are many fascinating things about this possible world, but chief among them is that its hypothetical orbit would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make one trip around the sun.
Neptune completes one orbit approximately every 165 years.
Who first came up with the idea of a ninth planet?
WHO WAS PERCIVAL LOWELL?
Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell, a 19th century travel writer and businessman, decided to become an astronomer after reading a book about Mars.
He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1894 before studying the Red Planet religiously and making elaborate drawings of the surface markings as he perceived them.
Lowell was convinced that the Red Planet supported intelligent life forms. So much so that he believed that the strange lines seen on the Martian surface were canals built as a dying civilization’s last attempt to extract water from the polar ice caps.
He also mistakenly believed that Venus had spokes radiating from its center.
The last true planet discovered was Neptune in 1846. At the time, however, there was much speculation that it might not be the last, and that another world might still exist deep beyond its orbit.
Step forward Percival Lowell, 19th century travel writer and businessman.
Lowell is remembered for a series of strange theories about space, having decided to become an astronomer after reading a book about Mars.
Lowell was convinced that the Red Planet supported intelligent life forms. So much so that he believed that the strange lines seen on the Martian surface were canals built as a dying civilization’s last attempt to extract water from the polar ice caps.
Most importantly, however, Lowell is convinced that there is a ninth planet in our solar system.
He died at the age of 61 in 1961 without ever knowing if his theory was correct, but left a million dollars in his will to go towards finding Planet X.
The Lowell Observatory continued to search, and 14 years later, on February 18, 1930, a young astronomer, looking at two photographs, spotted what turned out to be a small world known as Pluto.
This was mistaken for the mysterious Planet X.
Eventually, Pluto would lose its planet status anyway, being downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006, along with what was originally described as the solar system’s tenth planet, Eris, discovered in 2005.
Planet X is a general term for any undiscovered planet in the Solar System.
But the Planet X idea was briefly shelved?
Yes, from one of the Voyager spacecraft in 1989.
As Voyager 2 races past Neptune, it reveals that the planet is a little lighter than anyone originally thought.
This led a NASA scientist to calculate that the orbits of the outer planets made sense all along.
The mystery, it seemed, was closed. Planet X was not Pluto nor Eris and did not exist.
So why did his existence arise again?
Mainly because of Caltech astronomers Batygin and Brown.
Eight years ago, they shared detailed mathematical modeling and computer simulations that suggested a large object was to blame for the unique orbits of at least five smaller objects found in the distant Kuiper Belt.
Breakthrough: In 2015, Caltech astronomers Mike Brown (left) and Konstantin Batygin (right) announced new research that provided compelling evidence for a giant planet following an unusual, elongated orbit in the outer solar system
“The possibility of a new planet is certainly exciting for me as a planetary scientist and for all of us,” Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, said at the time.
“However, this is not the discovery or discovery of a new planet. It is too early to say for sure that there is a so-called Planet X.
“What we’re seeing is an early prediction based on modeling from limited observations. This is the beginning of a process that can lead to an exciting outcome.
What other theories are there?
It’s actually just a small black hole.
That’s according to physicists Jakub Scholz and James Unwin, who say it will be so small it will be the size of a bowling ball.
They made the proposal in 2019 on the basis that a black hole could be as responsible as a planet for affecting the orbits of a series of rocky objects that orbit Neptune.
Like Planet X, which some astronomers believe was a free-floating planet that was ejected from its original star system and began orbiting our sun after flying close to the solar system, Scholz and Unwin said, that the same may apply to a mini black hole.
In 2020, a new theory was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by scientists at Harvard University, suggesting that not only could Planet X actually exist, but that there may have once been a binary companion to our sun.
“Dr. Avi Loeb, the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard, and Amir Sirai, a Harvard graduate student, postulate the existence of a long-lost stellar binary companion in the sun’s progenitor cluster—the collection of stars that formed with the sun from the same a dense cloud of molecular gas—could explain the formation of the Oort cloud as we observe it today,” the authors write.
The Oort Cloud is believed to be a giant spherical shell surrounding the Sun, planets and Kuiper belt objects, containing billions or trillions of icy pieces of space debris left over from the formation of the Solar System.
It is believed to be the source of long-period comets.
Is Planet Nibiru the same as Planet X?
No.
Nibiru, sometimes also called Planet X, is a different hypothetical planet on the edge of our solar system.
Conspiracy theorists believe that the gravitational influence of the “rogue planet” Nibiru disrupted the orbits of other planets hundreds of years ago.
They argue that the next disruptive passage into the inner solar system could happen at any time.
Weird: Nibiru (shown in an artist’s impression), sometimes also called Planet X, is a different hypothetical planet at the edge of our solar system
Nibiru is supposedly mentioned on ancient Sumerian clay tablets and is said to have crashed through the early solar system, creating the asteroid belt and Earth before disappearing again.
Some conspiracy theorists claim that this “planet” is sending “plasma energy particles” through our solar system.
The flow of energy will disrupt Earth’s “mainstreams” and cause catastrophic changes in Earth’s climate.
They claim that since 1996 we are already feeling the destructive effects of the incoming rogue Planet X.
Conspiracy theorists often blame natural disasters and the planet’s strange climates.
“Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax,” NASA said. “Obviously it doesn’t exist.”
So where are the scientists with solving the mystery of Planet X now?
They haven’t gotten there yet, but remain optimistic they will.
Eighteen months ago, Mike Brown said, “I think it’s within a year or two of finding it.
But he warned: “I have made this statement every year for the last five years. I’m super optimistic.
In 2021, the existence of Planet X was dealt a blow when a team led by physicist Kevin Napier of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor investigated the orbits of “extreme” trans-Neptunian objects.
The researchers found that the perturbed orbits of the objects could actually be explained without the presence of a nearby planet.
They concluded that objects only appeared to have clustered pathways due to selection bias, although many others disagreed and said more data were needed.
However, there may soon be an answer in both cases.
Vera K. Rubin…
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