Evidence of New ‘Planet Nine’ Discovered in Solar System

Scientists reported Wednesday they finally have “good evidence” for Planet X, a true ninth planet on the fringes of our solar system.

Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown detected circumstantial evidence for the object, which they are tentatively calling Planet Nine, utilizing “mathematical modeling and computer simulations” and published their findings in the Astronomical Journal. “And we realized the only way we could get them to all swing in one direction is if there’s a massive planet, also very distant in the solar system, keeping them in place”. “Planet Nine is forcing any objects that cross its orbit to push into these misaligned positions”.

By the way, if we ever mount an expedition to Planet Nine, it should be pretty interesting. “I’d be very happy if the Brown-Batygin were the exception to the rule, but we’ll have to wait and see”. Previously the ninth planet, Pluto was downgraded due to its size and deemed too small to be a full-sized planet.

“We could have stayed quiet and quietly spent the next five years searching the skies ourselves and hoping to find it. But I would rather somebody find it sooner, than me find it later”, astronomer Mike Brown told The Associated Press.

If the planet does exist, it’s huge; Brown and Batygin’s calculations put it at ten times the mass of Earth, or 4,500 times the mass of Pluto.

For Brown, the confirmation of a new planet would be a personal triumph. Brown’s discovery of Sedna, a so-called “minor planet” and Eris, both of which are larger than Pluto led the International Astronomical Union to create a new classification for “planets” in 2006.

There is no doubt that the new world, which has not yet been observed directly, is a “true” planet. Its existence in the solar system makes us more “normal” in the universe, he said. Brown and Batygin believe the objects are being pulled into orbit by the mystery planet. It orbits the Sun at approximately 20 times the distance of Neptune’s orbit, which is 2.8 billion miles away.

“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”, he said. If Planet Nine is indeed a real planet, it would become the fifth largest behind Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The first suggestion that something big might be affecting the orbits of distant, icy bodies came in 2014.

That’s why the scientists have spotted the potential planet by seeing the disturbances that it is causing in the gravitational field of the far star system. History is packed with mistaken planet-seekers, he said, and so “standing up and saying we’re right this time makes us nearly look insane – except I’m going to stand up and say we’re actually right this time”. “I’m willing to take bets on anyone who’s not a believer”.