Scientists have narrowed down the location of the possible hiding place of “Planet Nine,” or Planet X, after ruling out more than three-quarters of the hypothetical world’s possible orbital path. Researchers who have been searching for the planet for nearly a decade now say they could possibly find Planet Nine in the coming years.
Planet Nine is rumored to exist in the outer solar system. The idea was first proposed in 2016 by astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin. The two scientists announced their hypothesis after other astronomers had identified a series of objects in the Kuiper Belt — a large disk of asteroids and comets beyond the orbit of Neptune — that had unusually distorted orbits around the Sun.Analyzing this data, the two astronomers hypothesized that only the gravitational pull of a massive planet could explain the orbital perturbations.
See also: Proxima Centauri: What's on the closest exoplanet to Earth
Since then, astronomers and their collaborators have done more research on the supposed Planet Nine. It is believed to be about seven times larger than Earth, which would make it the fifth largest planet in the solar system. It is also estimated to be somewhere between 500 and 600 astronomical units from the sun.
However, there are some gaps in the information about Planet Nine's elliptical orbit, which could take between 5,000 and 10,000 years to complete. It may also be slightly tilted compared to the orbits of the known planets. As a result, all attempts to find the planet are difficult.
In the new study, however, Brown, Batygin and astrophysicist Matthew Holman used data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) observatory to search for Planet Nine along and around its likely orbital path.
See also: SpaceX unveils capsule for Crew-8 mission
They analyzed 78% of the area where Planet Nine is likely to be located, since the rest is too far away to be observed through a telescope. However, the planet was not found in this spot.
So scientists have ruled out a large part and believe Planet Nine is somewhere in the region that couldn't be examined. "Now we have to do the much harder job of searching the region that's further away."
The team surveyed Planet Nine's orbital path at monthly intervals. The goal was to detect bright objects that moved into positions each month.
According to researchers, there are many things in the sky that change from month to month, such as asteroids and comets. Therefore, astronomers make continuous observations to notice the changes and put the pieces of the puzzle together.
To make sure they didn't miss Planet Nine, the team added more than 50,000 fake Planet Nines to the data. They "spotted" 99.9% of these fake planets, meaning their searches were very effective. As a result, the team believes that Planet Nine is somewhere in the outermost 22% of its proposed orbital path.
See also: NASA's DART probe changed the shape of the asteroid Dimorphos
Now, researchers want to continue the search, examining new data from the Subaru Telescope. They will re-examine the area already surveyed and hope to be able to look further afield, where they haven't been able to access yet. If that effort fails, the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is set to become operational in 2025, could help find the planet.
The discovery of Planet Nine could revolutionize our understanding of the universe, as it would provide new insights into the structure and dynamics of our solar system.
In addition, it could reveal new information about the origin and evolution of our solar system. It may also offer clues to the existence of other, still hidden planets in our solar system.
Finally, the discovery of Planet Nine could affect our theories about the formation and evolution of planetary systems. The existence of such a planet could prove that planets can move great distances from their sun, changing their orbits during their evolution.
Source: www.livescience.com
