Scientists have been looking for the mythical "Planet Nine" of the Solar System for many years now:
And now it's apparently possible that the search could be coming to an end:
The possibility that an additional planet may be hidden far into the solar system was touted more than a century ago. But astronomers 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a new paper, which has been accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia but not yet peer-reviewed.
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, according to the paper.
"10,000 and 20,000 years to orbit the sun."
It's difficult to visualize just how distant that is, but this might help: Picture just how far from the Sun the orbit of Neptune is...
...and then consider one artist's interpretation of where Planet Nine is (with Neptune's orbit in the extremely distant circle):
Not hard to figure out why they haven't been able to find this thing for decades!
So what's got scientists so certain this time around that they may have located it?
Two deep infrared surveys taken 23 years apart measured the object's orbital motion. In 1983, the Infrared Astronomy Satellite surveyed the universe for a year. In 2006, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the infrared satellite AKARI, which was active until 2011. ...
The candidate for Planet Nine displayed a tiny amount of movement [in the time interval], which could mean it advanced further in its orbit around the sun.
Yes, that's right: This thing is so unbelievably far out that it only experienced "a tiny amount of movement" from 1983 to 2011.
More evidence has been found in the distant Kuiper Belt, which contains some objects that "orbit in the opposite direction from everything else in the solar system," suggesting the possible gravitational pull of a planet.
Well, even if they've found this planet, I doubt I have enough frequent flyer miles to go visit it anytime soon!
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