For years, astronomers have been searching (pointlessly?) for ‘Planet X‘, a rumoured Earth-size planet said to live in the outer reaches of the Solar System (and which is going to collide with Earth and kill us all, if you listen to the truthers).
NPRhas taken a look at the search for ‘Planet X’, and the tool that should prove or disprove its existence one way or another: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a gigantic star-searching array that’s just started construction in Cerro Pachon, Chile.
Although some astronomers ruled out Planet X’s existence after a NASA survey last year found a big ‘ol pile of nothing, NPR talked to those who stay faithful to the cause. It’s fascinating to see how much debate there is over the existence of something so big, so close (by space terms, at least). Either way, when the LSST comes online in 2022, we should have a shot at answering this one way or another: it’s rocking the world’s largest digital camera. [NPR]