Are there any giant undiscovered planets outside the solar system? This idea has been around since before Pluto was discovered in the 1930s. A well-known astronomer, labelled Planet X, had advanced it as an explanation of Uranus’ orbit. The gravitational gravitation of an undiscovered planet was several times larger than Earth’s, and was considered a possible reason for contradiction.
The mystery was ultimately explained by a recalculation of Neptune’s Mass in the 1990s, but a new theory of potential planet nine was later proposed in 2016 by astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown.
Their theory relates to the Kuiper Belt, a giant belt of dwarf planets, asteroids, and other matter that transcend (and includes Pltune). Many Kuiper Belt objects, also known as transneptane objects, have been discovered orbiting the Sun, but do not do so in the continuous, predicted direction, like Uranus. Bataizin and Brown argued that something with a large gravitational pull would affect the orbit and that Planet 9 must be proposed as a potential explanation.
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This is comparable to what happens on our own moon. Orbits the sun every 365.25 days, consistent with what you expect from afar. However, Earth’s gravitational pull is like the moon orbiting planets every 27 days. From the perspective of an external observer, the moon moves in a spiral-like motion. Similarly, many objects in the Kuiper Belt show signs that the solar orbit is affected beyond its gravity.
Astronomers and space scientists were initially skeptical of Planet Nine theory, but evidence is growing thanks to increasingly powerful observations that the orbits of transneptinia objects are indeed unstable. As Brown said in 2024:
“I think it’s very unlikely that a P9 does not exist. There are no other explanations about the impact we are currently seeing.
Related: Astronomers discover new dwarf planet “Ammonite” and could overturn the existence of planet nine
For example, it was announced in 2018 that there will be a new candidate for the dwarf planet orbiting the sun, known as 2017. This object is about 700km wide (the Earth is about 18 times larger) and has a very elliptical orbit. The lack of an almost circular orbit around the Sun affects it early in the lifetime that places it in this path or suggests the effect of gravity from planet 9.
Theory problem
On the other hand, if Planet Nine exists, why has no one found it yet? Some astronomers have questioned whether there is sufficient orbital data from the Kuiper object to justify their conclusions about its existence, but alternative explanations are proposed for its movement, such as the effect of a ring of fragments or the more fantastical ideas of small black holes.
But the biggest problem is that the outer solar system has not been observed for long enough. For example, Object 2017 of 201 has a trajectory of approximately 24,000 years. The orbital paths of objects around the sun can be found in short years, but the gravity effect will likely require 4-5 orbits to notice subtle changes.
New discoveries of Kuiper Belt objects also present the challenges of Planet 9 theory. The latest one is known as the 2023 KQ14. This is an object discovered by the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.
It is known as “cedonoids.” In other words, within a vast area where the Sun has gravity, you spend most of your time far away from the Sun (this area has about 5,000 AU or astronomical units, with 1 AU being far from the Earth to the Sun). Classification of objects as cedonoids means that the effects of Neptune’s gravity have little or no effect on it.
The 2023 KQ14’s closest approach to the sun is around 71au, but its furthest point is around 433au. In comparison, the Neptune is about 30AU away from the sun. This new object is another object with a very elliptical orbit, but it was the 2017 stabiliser, suggesting that a large planet, including the hypothetical planet nine, has not had a major impact on its path. Therefore, if planet 9 is present, it must probably be more than 500AU from the sun.
To exacerbate the problem with Planet Nine Theory, this is the fourth cedonoid to be discovered. The other three also exhibit stable orbits, suggesting that Planet 9 actually needs to be very far away.
Nevertheless, the possibility that remains there could be a giant planet affecting the orbit of the body within the Kuiper Belt. However, the ability of astronomers to find such planets remains somewhat limited by restrictions on unmanned space travel. Based on estimates from NASA’s new Horizons Explorer speed, it will take 118 years for the spacecraft to move to a place sufficient to find it.
This means we need to continue to rely on underground and space-based telescopes to detect anything. As our observational abilities become more detailed, new asteroids and distant objects are constantly being discovered. So let’s look at this (very big) space and see what will appear in the next few years.
This edited article will be republished from the conversation under a Creative Commons license. Please read the original article.
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