{"id":122440,"date":"2024-11-05T19:32:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T12:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122440"},"modified":"2024-11-05T19:32:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T12:32:51","slug":"planet-9-inside-the-search-for-a-hidden-planet-in-our-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122440","title":{"rendered":"Planet 9: Inside the search for a hidden planet in our solar system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/editor-note\/instances\/cm33fv1c100013b6m6v18mh44@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"editor-note\" class=\"editor-note vossi-editor-note inline-placeholder \" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n    <em>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters\/wonder-theory?source=nl-acq_article\"><em>Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more<\/em><\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n    <cite class=\"source__cite\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__location\" data-editable=\"location\"\/><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__text\" data-editable=\"source\">CNN<\/span><br \/>\n        \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<br \/>\n    <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33ffpd7002g2bp50z3181rq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Our solar system used to have nine planets. Astronomer Mike Brown, also known as \u201cthe man who killed Pluto,\u201d said he got hate mail from kids and obscene calls at 3 a.m. for years after his most famous finding helped change that<em>.<\/em>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000e3b6mi84f3wco@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech, discovered another small world called Eris in the Kuiper Belt \u2014 a vast ring of icy objects beyond Neptune\u2019s orbit that also happens to be the former ninth planet\u2019s neighborhood. The 2005 revelation set off a chain of events that led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/09\/10\/world\/pluto-planet-status-trnd\/index.html\">Pluto\u2019s still-controversial demotion<\/a> from planet status the following year.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000f3b6m0p4yoldk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But now, just as the Kuiper Belt effectively took a ninth planet away, Brown and other scientists believe it could give one back.\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cm33fy2sk001x3b6m8ywq39b7@published\" class=\"image image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"PIA19952.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"1\" data-original-height=\"3000\" data-original-width=\"3000\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image__picture\"><source height=\"3000\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"3000\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?q=w_1015,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"3000\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?q=w_1160,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"3000\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?q=w_680,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pia19952.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\" alt=\"NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto on July 14, 2015. Pluto's demotion in 2006, after the International Astronomical Union rehashed what constitutes a planet, sparked widespread outrage.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3000\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000g3b6mxpijp214@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/kuiper-belt\/facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The belt<\/a>, which astronomers believe is made of leftovers from the solar system\u2019s formation, extends 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, with a secondary region that reaches beyond it for nearly 20 times that distance. Pluto, now classified as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/meet-the-dwarf-planets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dwarf planet<\/a> along with Eris, is just one of the largest among the scores of icy bodies that exist there \u2014 and doesn\u2019t dominate its own orbit and clear the orbit of other objects. That\u2019s why it can\u2019t have the same standing as the remaining eight planets, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iau.org\/public\/themes\/pluto\/#n3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guidelines<\/a> laid out by the International Astronomical Union.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000h3b6moxfa7exl@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Because objects in the Kuiper Belt are so far away from the sun, however, they are difficult to spot. For more than a decade, astronomers have been searching that area for a hidden planet that has never been observed, but its presence is inferred by the behavior of other nearby objects. It\u2019s often called Planet X or Planet Nine.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000i3b6mwkmrsfy7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIf we find another planet, that is a really big deal,\u201d said Malena Rice, an assistant professor of astronomy at Yale University. \u201cIt could completely reshape our understanding of the solar system and of other planetary systems, and how we fit into that context. It\u2019s really exciting \u2014 there is a lot of potential to learn a tremendous amount about the universe.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000j3b6m1m1222qy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The excitement comes with some controversy \u2014 different camps have competing theories about the planet itself while some researchers believe it doesn\u2019t exist at all.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000k3b6macbqz7kz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThere are definitely full-blown skeptics about Planet Nine \u2014 it\u2019s kind of a contentious topic,\u201d Rice said. \u201cSome people feel very passionately that it exists. Some people feel very passionately that it doesn\u2019t. There\u2019s a lot of debate in trying to pin down what it is, and whether it\u2019s there. But that\u2019s the hallmark of a really interesting topic, because otherwise people wouldn\u2019t have heated opinions about it.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000l3b6m78xr0y5d@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Soon, the debate could be settled, once a new telescope capable of surveying the entire available sky every few nights comes online in late 2025. Until then, a team of researchers believes it has found the most compelling evidence yet that the hidden planet is real.\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cm33fyuek00013b6mid5m8vtb@published\" class=\"image image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"08_GettyImages-505881070.JPG\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6273333333333333\" data-original-height=\"1882\" data-original-width=\"3000\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image__picture\"><source height=\"1882\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?q=w_1110,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"1882\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?q=w_1015,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"1882\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?q=w_1160,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"1882\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?q=w_680,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/08-gettyimages-505881070.JPG?q=w_1110,c_fill\" alt=\"Caltech astronomer Mike Brown points out the \" predicted=\"\" orbit=\"\" in=\"\" yellow=\"\" of=\"\" the=\"\" theorized=\"\" planet=\"\" nine=\"\" while=\"\" speaking=\"\" at=\"\" caltech=\"\" seismology=\"\" lab=\"\" pasadena=\"\" california=\"\" on=\"\" january=\"\" brown=\"\" and=\"\" his=\"\" colleague=\"\" planetary=\"\" scientist=\"\" konstantin=\"\" batygin=\"\" reported=\"\" having=\"\" strong=\"\" evidence=\"\" a=\"\" hidden=\"\" fringes=\"\" our=\"\" solar=\"\" system.=\"\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1882\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000m3b6m2i7muk2w@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The search for Planet Nine has only recently kicked into gear, but the discussion about its existence dates back more than 175 years.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000n3b6m7n49d49q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cSince Neptune was successfully discovered in 1846, at least 30 astronomers have proposed the existence of various types of trans-Neptunian planets \u2014 and they\u2019ve always been wrong,\u201d said Konstantin Batygin, a colleague of Brown\u2019s who is also a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology. Any body orbiting the sun beyond the orbit of Neptune is defined as \u201ctrans-Neptunian\u201d by astronomers.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000o3b6mxe1knez3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI never thought I would be talking about how there\u2019s evidence for a trans-Neptunian planet, but I believe that unlike all of those previous times, in this case, we\u2019re actually right,\u201d he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000p3b6ma709zbx2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Batygin and Brown are among the most vocal supporters of Planet Nine. The pair has been actively working on finding the hidden planet since 2014, inspired by a study by astronomers Scott Sheppard, staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC, and Chadwick Trujillo, associate professor of astronomy and planetary sciences at Northern Arizona University.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000q3b6mxd85a2qj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Sheppard and Trujillo were the first to <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/carnegiescience.edu\/sheppard\/extreme_objects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notice<\/a> that the orbits of a handful of known trans-Neptunian objects were all strangely clustered together. The duo argued that an <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/carnegiescience.edu\/sheppard\/extreme_objects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unseen planet<\/a> \u2014 several times larger than Earth and more than 200 times our planet\u2019s distance from the sun \u2014 could be \u201cshepherding\u201d these smaller objects.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000r3b6mzhgzq3ja@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe most visually striking evidence remains the earliest: that the most distant object(s) beyond Neptune all have orbits (that) point in one direction,\u201d Brown said in an email.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000s3b6mjih8m9nn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Batygin has since coauthored half a dozen studies on Planet Nine, offering several lines of evidence about its existence. The strongest, he said, is in his latest work, coauthored by Brown and two other researchers and published in April in <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/ad3cd2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000t3b6ms1vfmcbd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The study tracks icy bodies subject to some kind of perturbation that\u2019s injecting them into the orbit of Neptune before they leave the solar system entirely. \u201cIf you look at these bodies, their lifetimes are tiny compared to the age of the solar system,\u201d Batygin said. \u201cThat means something is putting them there. And so what can it be?\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000u3b6mv26k2rlc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            One option could be something called galactic tide, a combination of forces exerted by distant stars in the Milky Way galaxy. But Batygin and his team ran computer simulations to test this scenario versus the presence of Planet Nine, and they found that a solar system without the hidden planet is \u201cstrongly refuted by the data.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000v3b6m039qji1l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThat\u2019s a really remarkable smoking gun. And it\u2019s obvious in retrospect, so I feel a little embarrassed that it took us almost a decade to figure this out. Better late than never, I suppose,\u201d Batygin said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000w3b6mkeep7xrb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Planet Nine, according to Batygin, is a \u201csuper-Earth\u201d object, about five to seven times the mass of our planet, and its orbital period is between 10,000 and 20,000 years. \u201cWhat I cannot calculate from doing simulations is where it is on its orbit, as well as its composition,\u201d Batygin said. \u201cThe most mundane explanation is that it\u2019s kind of a smaller version of Uranus and Neptune, and probably one of the cores that participated in the formation process of those planets.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000x3b6mwalclayu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The super-Earth hypothesis is perhaps the one that gets the most support among Planet Nine believers, but competing theories present alternative explanations.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000y3b6mcm6mbtsg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-3881\/aceaf0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> published in August 2023 proposes the existence of a hidden planet that\u2019s actually much smaller, with a mass between 1.5 and 3 times that of Earth. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that it\u2019s an icy, rocky Earth, or a super-Pluto,\u201d said Patryk Sofia Lykawka, an associate professor of planetary sciences at Kindai University in Japan and coauthor of the study.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva000z3b6m7bnsuhip@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cBecause of its large mass, it would have a high internal energy that could sustain, for example, subsurface oceans. Its orbit would be very distant, much beyond Neptune, and much more inclined if compared to the known planets \u2014 even more inclined than Pluto\u2019s, whose inclination is about 17 degrees,\u201d Lykawka said. (Astronomers refer to a planet\u2019s orbit as inclined when it\u2019s not on the same plane as Earth\u2019s.)\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00103b6mzf0bnna7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The presence of the planet is derived from computational models meant to explain the strange behaviors of populations of trans-Neptunian objects, which suggests similarities with Batygin\u2019s research. However, Lykawka pointed out, his model does not look at the same orbital alignments and is very different from Batygin\u2019s. That\u2019s why he doesn\u2019t refer to the mystery object as Planet Nine but \u201cKuiper Belt planet\u201d instead, to \u201cmake it clear that we are talking about different hypothetical planets,\u201d he explained.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00113b6mbnok68qg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Other theories propose that the anomalies everyone\u2019s trying to explain are due to something else entirely, such as a <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1909.11090\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">primordial black hole<\/a> \u2014 created just after the big bang \u2014 that our solar system captured as it moved across the galaxy. Another <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-3881\/acef1e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">idea<\/a> suggests that there might be something wrong with science\u2019s current understanding of gravity.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00123b6m1qa33arn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But according to Rice of Yale University, these theories would be very difficult to test. \u201cThere are lots of other ideas, but I usually try to go with Occam\u2019s razor when it comes to deciding what to prioritize in terms of checking,\u201d she said, citing a classic principle of philosophy that states that among competing ideas, the simplest is usually correct. \u201cIn terms of scientific viability, we know that there are eight planets already, so it\u2019s not so crazy to have another planet within the same system.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00133b6mi3l8qsml@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The most promising path forward, she added, is actually finding more of the trans-Neptunian objects that Batygin is basing his hypothesis on \u2014 and proving that it\u2019s statistically significant that their orbits are clustered.\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cm33vqoqv000g3b6m2la68ss0@published\" class=\"image image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"planet_9_art_1_1400_Caltech:R. Hurt.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"0.5625331213566508\" data-original-height=\"2123\" data-original-width=\"3774\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image__picture\"><source height=\"2123\" width=\"3774\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2123\" width=\"3774\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?q=w_1015,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2123\" width=\"3774\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?q=w_1160,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2123\" width=\"3774\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?q=w_680,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/planet-9-art-1-1400-caltech-r-hurt.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\" alt=\"An artist's concept illustrates the theorized Planet Nine, which Batygin and Brown believe to be five to seven times the mass of Earth. A competing theory proposes the existence of a hidden Kuiper Belt planet that\u2019s smaller, with a mass between 1.5 and 3 times that of our world.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2123\" width=\"3774\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00143b6m9oobgf0s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Some researchers believe that currently scientists have detected too few of these distant trans-Neptunian objects to draw any conclusions about their orbits.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm34bylll000j3b6mgr9muub7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe have about roughly a dozen or so of these objects,\u201d said Renu Malhotra, regents professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, \u201cbut we observe only the brightest ones, and only a tiny fraction of even those, because we observe them when they are at their closest approach to the sun.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00153b6m1n195g4v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The data suffers from observational bias, according to Malhotra, which is why researchers are skeptical about it. Among the skeptics is Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, one of the coauthors of the 2014 study that inspired Batygin\u2019s research.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00163b6mftu6ocut@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cBy now, we expected to have found many more of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects,\u201d Sheppard said in an email. \u201cHaving several tens of them would allow us to reliably determine if they are truly clustered in space or not. But unfortunately we are still in the small-number statistics realm, because they are much rarer than first thought. Right now I would say it\u2019s possible there is a super-Earth planet in the distant solar system, but we cannot say that with a lot of confidence.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00173b6mfhr5qar3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The controversy can get heated, according to Malhotra. \u201cScientists come in different personality types, just like everybody else. Some are more aggressive about their science, while others are more measured,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a perception that the idea of a Neptune-mass Planet Nine is being pushed more aggressively than the statistics justify.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00183b6m6cnjou42@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Malhotra coauthored an <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-3881\/aa79ff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 2017 paper<\/a> suggesting the presence of a Mars-size planet in the Kuiper Belt, but she\u2019s not ruling out the Planet Nine hypothesis entirely.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva00193b6mn32r1qpx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s up in the air. It\u2019s just at the edge of statistical significance,\u201d she said. \u201dBut there\u2019s nothing in the physics we know and the observations we have that rules out the possibility of large planets at tens of times the distance of Neptune from the sun.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva001a3b6mh0la6d75@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Observing the planet directly would, of course, end all controversy, but every attempt so far has come up empty.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva001b3b6muh0byptg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Batygin coauthored a <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-3881\/ad24e9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March study<\/a> that used data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS, observatory in Hawaii, allowing researchers to analyze 78% of the sky where Planet Nine supposedly could be \u2014 but they couldn\u2019t find it.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva001c3b6mppx7mq7c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s been a real slog,\u201d he said about the attempt, citing the difficulty of having to work with telescopes over just a few days of allotted time while fighting against equipment breakages and adverse weather.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotva001d3b6m98p2m0t2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Spotting such a distant object without knowing where to look is exceedingly hard, and akin to searching for a target with a sniper rifle instead of binoculars, according to Batygin.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001e3b6mtl41w8vo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe sky is a really, really big place when you\u2019re looking for something so painfully dim,\u201d he said. \u201cThis thing is something like 100 million times less bright than Neptune \u2014 that\u2019s really pushing towards the edge of what\u2019s possible with the absolute largest telescopes in the world right now.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cm33o3ynw00033b6mfi7v54r3@published\" class=\"image image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"pdco-panstarrs1.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6693333333333333\" data-original-height=\"2008\" data-original-width=\"3000\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image__picture\"><source height=\"2008\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2008\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?q=w_1015,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2008\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?q=w_1160,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"2008\" width=\"3000\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?q=w_680,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/pdco-panstarrs1.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\" alt=\"The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS, observatory in Hawaii, allowed researchers to analyze 78% of the sky where Planet Nine could possibly be. But so far, attempts by scientists to directly observe the theorized planet have come up empty.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2008\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001f3b6m1ppzxjls@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Other searches, such as one performed for a <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ac2307\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 2021<\/a> study using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile, have also come up short. \u201cI had to test tens of thousands of different orbits. In the end I didn\u2019t spot anything,\u201d said the study\u2019s lead author Sigurd Naess, a researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics of the University of Oslo in Norway.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001g3b6mli2i5q27@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The instrument\u2019s sensitivity, he added, was good enough that it should have been able to detect a planet in an area between 300 and 600 times the distance between Earth and the sun.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001h3b6m2dqw72rx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThat\u2019s enough to be informative, but far from enough to disprove Planet Nine as a whole,\u201d Naess said in an email.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001i3b6m0u56idsv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Amid controversies and diverging opinions, all of the researchers agree on one thing. A new wide-angle telescope currently under construction could soon put the debate to rest, once the US National Science Foundation and Stanford University researchers start scientific operations in late 2025. Called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, it has the <a href=\"https:\/\/rubinobservatory.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">largest digital camera<\/a> ever built and sits atop an 8,800-foot mountain in northern Chile.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001j3b6mwx9toxvd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThis is a next-generation telescope that will search the entire available sky every few days,\u201d Batygin said. \u201cIt might just find Planet Nine directly, which would be a fantastic conclusion to the search and open up a new chapter. At the very least, it will find a ton more Kuiper Belt objects. But even if it doesn\u2019t discover a single new object, it will be enough to confirm the Planet Nine hypothesis, because it will test all of the statistics, all of the patterns that we see with an independent survey.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001k3b6ma7gfn8hc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Rice agrees that the telescope will go a long way to settling the debate, and clearly address the question of the statistical significance of the alignment of trans-Neptunian objects \u2014 the key point of evidence for Planet Nine.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001l3b6mcryjnjte@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            If the Rubin telescope finds a super-Earth, Rice said, that would be exciting because these celestial bodies, between the sizes of Earth and Neptune, are a common type of exoplanet.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001m3b6mezay18hc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe do not have one in the solar system, which seems really strange, and has kind of been an outstanding mystery because we find so many of them in systems around other stars \u2014 it would be incredible to actually study one up close, because exoplanets are so far away that it\u2019s very difficult to get a real grasp on exactly what they physically look like,\u201d Rice said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001n3b6mu8ijkvuq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Finding a smaller planet would also spark excitement, Rice added, because every solar system planet is immensely useful for extrapolating information about the thousands of comparable exoplanets that researchers are uncovering across the galaxy.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001o3b6mcnrnmjau@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            And what if nothing shows up at all? It would still be useful to know for sure how many planets there are, Rice said. \u201cI think not even knowing the number of planets in our own solar system is very humbling.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001p3b6mag11077q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That means that even the facts that many people learned from textbooks as children can change, as scientists discover more about the universe.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm33fotvb001q3b6m4xrnypk9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThat\u2019s actually a wonderful thing,\u201d she added. \u201cHuman knowledge is continually moving \u2014 sometimes it\u2019s huge shifts, sometimes it\u2019s just a back-and-forth debate. It\u2019s a fun, emblematic example of the scientific process.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/11\/04\/science\/planet-nine-kuiper-belt-latest-evidence\/index.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Our solar system used to have nine planets. Astronomer &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122440\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}