planet nine
-
A 1980s Space Telescope May Have Seen Planet Nine
In 1983, astronomer Michael Rowan-Robinson conducted a search for a proposed 10th planet (Pluto still being a planet at the time) using data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, the first infrared space telescope. Rowan-Robinson didn’t turn up a new planet, and by 1991, he was pretty sure that such a planet did not exist, at…
-
Astronomers Have a Plan to Detect a Possible Black Hole in Our Solar System
You may have heard about Planet Nine — a hypothetical planet thought to exist in the outer reaches of the solar system. One possibility is that it’s not a planet at all but a tiny black hole. New research outlines a potential strategy for detecting this supposed black hole, in a search that could begin…
-
Is The Elusive ‘Planet Nine’ Actually A Massive Ring Of Debris In The Outer Solar System?
The odd orbital arrangements of objects beyond Neptune have led scientists to speculate about the existence of a so-called Planet Nine — a hypothetical large planet in the outer reaches of the Solar System. New research suggests a planet isn’t required to achieve the anomalous orbits, and that a massive ring of debris is a…
-
A Mysterious Mars-Sized Object Could Be Hiding At The Edge Of Our Solar System
It’s been about 11 years since Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status, leaving a 2370km-sized void in our hearts. Since then, the hunt for Planet X — aptly renamed Planet 9 — has grown into an international movement to find such an object in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune’s orbit. Now, scientists Kat Volk…