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Global News
06-05-2025
- Science
- Global News
A 9th planet in our solar system? Jury's out, but a candidate has emerged
For years, astronomers have been searching for a ninth planet in our solar system (after giving Pluto the old heave-ho and demoting it to a dwarf planet) and now researchers say they've found a promising candidate. The long-theorized Planet 9, which astronomers have speculated could be a Neptune-sized planet that has been lurking on the outer edge of the solar system, could explain the unusual clustering and movements of distant objects in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, but tracking such a mass has largely been unfruitful. Now, a newly identified object spotted in two infrared sky surveys has renewed the question of whether the elusive and hypothetical Planet 9 actually exists. According to a new pre-print study, shared in late April and approved for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia — but has not yet been peer-reviewed — researchers found a curious dot on infrared images taken 23 years apart that seems to be moving in a manner consistent with a large, distant planet. Story continues below advertisement 'I felt very excited,' study lead author Terry Phan, an astronomy doctoral student at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, told Science about his team's discovery. 'It's motivated us a lot.' As with all Planet 9 research, the findings have been met with skepticism — even the study's researchers acknowledge that the surveys have not provided enough data to determine the full orbit of a planetary candidate and that more observations will be needed. 1:54 Astronomers talk about evidence of 9th planet in our solar system Astronomer Mike Brown, who was first to propose the Planet 9 hypothesis in 2016 alongside colleague Konstantin Batygin, told Science that it's going to take more evidence that the infrared dots observed in the latest study correspond to a ninth planet. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He told the publication that, by his own calculations, the candidate signal's orbit would be tilted roughly 120 degrees from the plane of the solar system, meaning it would actually orbit the Sun in the opposite direction than the other eight planets. According to his models, to explain the clustering and movement of other objects in the Kuiper belt, Planet 9 would need an orbit tilted roughly 15 to 10 degrees from the plane of the solar system. Story continues below advertisement This mismatch 'doesn't mean it's not there, but it means it's not Planet 9,' Brown said. 'I don't think this planet would have any of the effects on the solar system that we think we're seeing.' Brown's discovery of Eris, an icy world in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto, led to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet. He has been dubbed the 'Pluto Killer.' In 2016, he expressed his excitement about a possible replacement planet for the one he killed off. 'All those people who are mad that Pluto is no longer a planet can be thrilled to know that there is a real planet out there still to be found,' Brown said at the time. 'Now we can go and find this planet and make the solar system have nine planets once again.' In a NASA post, titled 'Is Planet X real?', the space agency lays out the research done by Brown and Batygin, summarizing how Planet 9 would behave and appear, if proven real. 'This hypothetical Neptune-sized planet would circle our Sun on a highly elongated path, far beyond Pluto. It could have a mass about 5 to 10 times that of Earth and orbit about 20 to 30 times farther from the Sun on average than Neptune. It would take between 10,000 and 20,000 Earth years to make one full orbit around the Sun,' the agency writes, adding that there are several lines of observational evidence pointing to the existence of a ninth planet. Story continues below advertisement While Planet 9's existence remains fully up in the air, more evidence could become available within a year or two, when a Chilean observatory that's currently under construction opens, giving a better glimpse into what lies at the edge of our solar system. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will use the world's largest digital camera to peer deeper into space than any predecessor. Earlier this year, Brown told NPR that there's no better telescope to help prove, or disprove, the existence of Planet 9. 'If you were to hand me a big wad of cash and say, 'Go build a telescope to go either find this Planet 9 or find the best evidence possible for Planet 9,' I would probably go and build the Vera Rubin Observatory,' Brown said. 'It really is a telescope that is perfectly suited for making the next step.' Story continues below advertisement Even if they aren't able to actually observe a new planet, he added, the Rubin observatory should give astronomers enough new data to prove whether his hypothesis and observed patterns of objects in the Kuiper belt hold up. 'I think that what Vera Rubin will definitively do,' says Brown, 'is tell us whether we're crazy or not.'
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers spot candidate for potential ninth planet far beyond Neptune
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers searching for a ninth planet in our solar system say they've found a "good" candidate far beyond Neptune, according to a new preprint study. This could be humanity's first glimpse at the long-theorized Planet Nine, which — if it exists — is a giant, undiscovered world distantly orbiting our sun. However, the ninth planet proposal is contentious, and the new findings are unlikely to change that. Researchers discovered this latest planetary candidate while studying old satellite data. At this stage, the candidate is simply a curious dot across a few infrared images. But the dot seemed to be moving in a way that was consistent with a large, distant planet. "I felt very excited," study lead-author Terry Phan, an astronomy doctoral student at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, told Science, recalling the discovery. "It's motivated us a lot." Phan and his colleagues posted their findings to the preprint server arXiv on April 24, which have been accepted for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. However, the preprint has been met with some skepticism. Mike Brown, an astronomer at Caltech who first proposed the Planet Nine hypothesis with a colleague in 2016, isn't convinced that the infrared dots correspond to the elusive planet. Brown wasn't involved in the study, but calculated the orbit of the infrared signal and found that the object would be tilted about 120 degrees from the Solar System's plane, Science reported. That tilt is much greater than Planet Nine's predicted tilt of around 15 to 20 degrees, and also means this object would be orbiting in a different direction from the known planets, which all sit roughly on the same plane. This mismatch "doesn't mean it's not there, but it means it's not Planet Nine," Brown told Science. "I don't think this planet would have any of the effects on the Solar System that we think we're seeing." Related: How long would it take to reach Planet 9, if we ever find it? The predicted position of Planet Nine is meant to explain the irregular orbits of some objects in the Kuiper Belt at the far reaches of our solar system. However, some researchers are unconvinced that these orbits are caused by an undiscovered planet, and the scientific community as a whole is still waiting for any direct observational evidence of Planet Nine's existence. If Planet Nine does exist, then researchers have predicted that it's much larger than Earth and orbits in an unusual pattern billions of miles beyond Neptune — the eighth and, as things stand, final planet in our solar system. Planet Nine's supposed orbit is so far away from the sun that it would be difficult for Earthling scientists to detect, hence why they're having a hard time proving or disproving its existence. The team behind the new study searched for Planet Nine candidates in the data archives of two decommissioned satellites: the 1983 Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and the 2006-2011 AKARI satellite, Live Science's sister site reported. They were looking for distant objects that moved slowly between one set of data and the next, like the proposed Planet Nine would be doing if it were orbiting our sun. After ruling out the known objects in the data, the researchers zeroed in on a shortlist of candidates. They then pored over images of these potential objects and eventually came away with what they described in the study as "one good candidate." The candidate is a dot with the same colors and brightness across the two sets of images, suggesting it's one object captured by both satellites. Follow-up observations are needed to determine the object's full orbit, according to the study. RELATED STORIES —Elusive Planet Nine could be an alternative form of gravity masquerading as a planet, study claims —Astronomers narrow down where 'Planet Nine' could be hiding by playing massive game of 'connect the dots' —8 strange objects that could be hiding in the outer solar system Brown told Science that if the infrared signal is a planet, then based on his calculations, it couldn't exist alongside the original hypothesized Planet Nine without the two making each other's orbits unstable. Thus, the new candidate for Planet Nine could be a different planet with the potential to disprove the Planet Nine hypothesis. The existence of Planet Nine — or any other undiscovered ninth planet in our solar system — will likely remain a contentious subject for now. However, 2025 could prove to be the beginning of the end for the search. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction in Chile, will open later this year and has the potential to settle the Planet Nine debate. This state-of-the-art observatory will feature the world's largest digital camera and look deeper into space than its predecessors. Researchers are hoping it will be able to spot Planet Nine within a year or two, if it's out there at all.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
A 9th planet in our solar system? Scientists finally find a potential candidate to ‘replace' Pluto
The empty seat on the 9th row might just be filled! There possibly is a 9th planet after all (and a replacement for Pluto )! Researchers have *finally* found a candidate for the hypothetical Planet Nine , which could be an undiscovered giant planet way out in our solar system. Read on to find out more about the potential candidate! The 9th planet! It's been almost two decades since our solar system lost its 9th planet. Pluto was officially reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in August 2006. While Pluto orbits the Sun and is large enough to be spherical due to gravity, it is not big enough to gravitationally dominate its orbital region, meaning other objects share its path in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the IAU because it failed to meet the third criterion for being a planet: it did not "clear its neighborhood" around its orbit. Nearly two decades after that, astronomers claim that they may have found new evidence that points to a celestial body that could be a possible candidate as "Planet Nine," according to a new paper, which has been accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia but not yet peer-reviewed. What do the researchers say? Astronomers engaged in the search for a hypothetical ninth planet in our solar system have identified a promising candidate situated well beyond Neptune, according to a recent preprint study. This finding may represent the first substantial evidence of the long theorized Planet Nine, which, if confirmed, would be a large, yet-to-be-discovered world orbiting the sun at a considerable distance. However, the prospect of Planet Nine remains a debated topic within the scientific community, and skepticism surrounds the new findings. The potential planetary candidate was detected while researchers analyzed archival data from two decommissioned satellites: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), operational in 1983, and the AKARI satellite, which functioned from 2006 to 2011. The team was specifically looking for distant objects exhibiting slow movement characteristic of a large planet's orbit. After dismissing known celestial objects, they focused on a shortlist of candidates and ultimately identified what they referred to as "one good candidate." This candidate appeared as a consistent dot in infrared images from both satellites, indicative of a single object. Study lead author Terry Phan, a doctoral student in astronomy at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, expressed excitement over the discovery, noting its motivational impact on the research team. Their findings were shared on the preprint server arXiv on April 24 and have been accepted for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. Who is the potential candidate for the 9th planet? According to the paper, the hidden candidate is likely the size of Neptune and is so far away that it could take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to orbit the sun. The criteria to be a Planet: For a celestial body to be classified as a planet, the IAU defines, it must meet three criteria: it must orbit a star, it must be massive enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium (meaning it is round or nearly round), and it must have cleared its orbital neighborhood, meaning it is the dominant gravitational body in its orbit. Is Planet Nine the replacement for Pluto? Despite this progress, some experts remain unconvinced. Notably, Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, who originally proposed the Planet Nine hypothesis alongside a colleague in 2016, has expressed doubts regarding the infrared signals' connection to the elusive planet. Brown analyzed the orbit of the candidate and concluded that its tilt—approximately 120 degrees from the Solar System's plane—deviates significantly from the predicted tilt for Planet Nine, which should be around 15 to 20 degrees. This discrepancy suggests the object may not significantly influence the orbits of other known planets. The predictive position of Planet Nine is designed to account for the irregular orbits observed among some objects in the Kuiper Belt at the outer edges of our solar system. However, many researchers contest the notion that an undiscovered planet is responsible for these anomalies, and direct observational evidence for Planet Nine's existence remains elusive. If Planet Nine does exist, predictions indicate that it would be considerably larger than Earth, orbiting the sun in a distant and unusual path. The vast distance from the sun makes detection particularly challenging, complicating efforts to confirm or refute its existence. Follow-up observations are necessary to refine the orbit of the identified candidate. Brown has suggested that if the infrared signal indicates a planet, it would contradict the existence of the originally hypothesized Planet Nine, as their orbits would likely destabilize each other. Evidence of ninth planet found in solar system
Toronto Star
01-05-2025
- Science
- Toronto Star
Planet Nine? Scientists uncover new evidence of a massive planet hidden in our solar system
A new look through decades-old data has unveiled some of the most compelling evidence yet of a hidden ninth planet in the far reaches of our solar system, far beyond the bounds of Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto. The findings hint at an enormous astral body more massive than Neptune, located hundreds of times further from the sun than Earth. Astronomers have been hunting for the elusive planet ever since it was proposed in 2016 as a cause for the unusual clustering of objects in the Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped disc of icy objects off the orbit of Neptune. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW World Tatooine-like planet outside the solar system may orbit two failed stars, scientists say NEW YORK (AP) — A new Tatooine-like planet outside the solar system may orbit two failed stars, scientists reported Wednesday. World Tatooine-like planet outside the solar system may orbit two failed stars, scientists say NEW YORK (AP) — A new Tatooine-like planet outside the solar system may orbit two failed stars, scientists reported Wednesday. At the time, this so-called 'Planet Nine' was believed to be 10 times more massive than Earth, with an orbit so far out that a single trip around the sun would take around 10,000 to 20,000 years. But astronomers have struggled to capture strong visual evidence of the planet — until now. 'The moment I found a truly promising candidate after months of unsuccessful attempts, I was so excited that I couldn't wait until the next day to share the result with my adviser,' Terry Phan, the lead author of the study and an astronomer with Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University, wrote over email. 'I have a dream to become a 'planet hunter,' and that will become true if our candidate is exactly a planet.' The team's paper has been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. The preprint was posted last week on arXiv, an open-access archive. On the hunt for Planet Nine At its great distance, Planet Nine would reflect only a hint of sunlight — far too dim for observation. But its faint thermal radiation might be visible to infrared sensors. Canada Canadian astronomers discover new, volcano-covered exoplanet that may support life The Earth-sized planet, named LP 791-18d, sits on the inner edge of the habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 90 light years away. Canada Canadian astronomers discover new, volcano-covered exoplanet that may support life The Earth-sized planet, named LP 791-18d, sits on the inner edge of the habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 90 light years away. Thus, Phan's team of international astronomers scoured through two archived, far-infrared all-sky surveys from space telescopes, taken 23 years apart, in search of any hint of the planet. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Remarkably, out of around two million objects, 13 potential candidates for Planet Nine were discovered. Each were 500 to 700 times further out than the distance from Earth to the sun, and measured seven to 17 times the mass of the Earth. The researchers found each candidate by comparing the two sky-surveys, looking for objects found by the first scan that appeared to have moved by the time the second scan took place. This distance was relatively tiny, given the colossal length of time it would take Planet Nine to orbit the sun. After rigorous analysis, including visual inspection, 'most of these turned out to be false positives,' Phan said. 'However, we identified one promising candidate that is consistent with the expected properties of Planet Nine.' Is this thing really Planet Nine? Canada Space debris is cluttering our orbit. Can falling space junk hit a plane? A new paper by University of British Columbia researchers paints a stark picture of the risks of space debris on commercial flights. Canada Space debris is cluttering our orbit. Can falling space junk hit a plane? A new paper by University of British Columbia researchers paints a stark picture of the risks of space debris on commercial flights. Phan admits his team can't determine the orbit of their candidate through the two sky-surveys alone: 'Only with a well-constrained orbit can we confirm whether our candidate is indeed Planet Nine,' he said. 'To constrain its trajectory and verify its nature, follow-up observations are essential.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW In this regard, he said his team is working on an observation proposal for the Dark Energy Camera to hopefully better view the potential planet and more-accurately calculate its orbit. Meanwhile, some astronomers are skeptical of Phan's results. Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology who first proposed Planet Nine nearly a decade ago, told Science that the team's candidate appears to lie on an orbit far outside of his original prediction. This 'doesn't mean it's not there, but it means it's not Planet Nine,' said Brown, who is not affiliated with the project. 'I don't think this planet would have any of the effects on the Solar System that we think we're seeing.' Regardless, Phan remains optimistic about his results. 'I always believe that there are a lot of mysterious objects hiding in the dark regions of the solar system,' he said. 'Before trying to understand stars, galaxies or the Universe, we must come to understand our own home: the solar system.'
