Unconfirmed possibility of a huge 9th planet

[Suzu Fanatic]

http://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-have-found-evidence-of-huge-ninth-planet-on-the-edge-of-the-solar-system

 

Pretty cool stuff, even if it doesn't turn out to be a planet (ten times the size of earth) - there's still something out there past pluto that is behaving in a unexpected fashion for the pros.

[Dark_blade64]

If it is something else out there I doubt it will turn out to be something interesting or noteworthy. Now if it turns out to be a planet they won't do nothing either way, so it doesn't really matter.

[Clephas]

I think it is interesting...

@Suzu Fanatic Have you taken a look at the New Horizon's pictures for the Pluto system?

[The Striker]

Very interesting

well i will waith to the confirmation, sounds good .

[Soulless Watcher]

I have read somewhere that it is entirely possible that there are dozens of other planets in our solar system, it's just that their orbits are sooo far away from ours that not much sunlight is reflected off their surfaces. Which means it is impossible to find them using telescopes.

Although I like my own theory that the united federation of planets has amassed a fleet of warships, around our solarsystem, that are prepared to annihilate the planet if Donald Trump gets elected.  

[Kaguya]

1 hour ago, Soulless Watcher said:

I have read somewhere that it is entirely possible that there are dozens of other planets in our solar system, it's just that their orbits are sooo far away from ours that not much sunlight is reflected off their surfaces. Which means it is impossible to find them using telescopes.

Although I like my own theory that the united federation of planets has amassed a fleet of warships, around our solarsystem, that are prepared to annihilate the planet if Donald Trump gets elected.  

Think goverment is atrocious so they nuke everything?

Easy there. They're aliens, not americans.

[solidbatman]

Alright peeps. Astronomy is a mild hobby of mine. The existence of a massive planet beyond the Kuiper Belt, or in it, has been a theoretical possibility for quite some time now. Neptune's orbit is a little bit wonky for its location, and the orbits of many discovered K-belt objects to come closest to the sun at a similar place. Some model runs of the early solar system also point to the existence of an ejected planet to explain other orbital, and placement issues. The WISE mission took a massive survey of the outer solar system looking for infrared signs of a planet, basically heat. The way it surveyed, it could have found anything Neptune sized, if it was within 700 AU (1 AU= 150 million km) or a Jupiter mass object up to 1 light year away. The WISE mission found nothing. 

 

So, if a planetary body is out there, it is farther out than 700AU, or smaller than Neptune and unable to be seen. What is far more likely here, is that a few billion years ago, in the early solar system, Jupiter migrated outward in the solar system, shoving Neptune beyond the orbit of Uranus. Another small gas planet could have been in the out solar system, and would have been ejected from all of the gravitational shannigans. If it had enough velocity, it could have easily escaped the Sun's gravitational influence to become a rogue planet, drifting through space without a star. It also could have stayed within the solar system, but is so insanely far out, that we will never be able to see it with current technology. If a 9th planet formed in the early solar system, this is most likely. However, there is also a good chance that such a planet never did exist, and the orbits are sheer coincidence. One thing about space, the odds of something happening, or against something happening don't really matter all that much with how little we know about it. So if someone says that chances of those orbits having their perihelion in a similar place is .007%, keep in mind the amount of odd things that had to happen to our own solar system, and planet, just to form life, and keep in mind that we struggle to find K-belt objects due to their tiny size and distance. 

Pluto, in my opinion, especially after the New Horizons mission, needs to be classified as a planet again. And I would much rather spend efforts exploring Pluto instead of this phantom planet.

tl;dr: Technically it is possible, but I'm not too sold on the theory and don't believe anything will be found in the next 5 years. Also, I don't have a degree in this field at all. 

[Nosebleed]

I wish I hadn't slept through physics classes in order to know if batman's post is a troll or not.

In my heart, pluto will always be the 9th planet.

[CeruleanGamer]

Now that we found a new planet, will Mercury be demoted to dwarf planet? 

[Decay]

Yeah, them using the .007% chance thing as an indicator of it most likely being something else makes me laugh, because what are the odds of literally anything happening in space?

[solidbatman]

1 minute ago, Nosebleed said:

I wish I hadn't slept through physics classes in order to know if batman's post is a troll or not.

In my heart, pluto will always be the 9th planet.

Its not troll. I study this stuff for fun. I'm sure I oversimplified it, but I wrote it as I understand what I've studied. 

1 minute ago, CeruleanGamer said:

Now that we found a new planet, will Mercury be demoted to dwarf planet? 

Nah. Cleared orbit, strong enough gravity well etc. etc. Pluto got demoted because we found Eris and other objects very similar to Pluto. I believe Eris is actually larger than Pluto. 

[Soulless Watcher]

1 hour ago, Kaguya said:

Think goverment is atrocious so they nuke everything?

Easy there. They're aliens, not americans.

Well if Donald Trump gets elected, be it by the people or a shadow government, that would mean there is obviously no intelligent life here..... and this quadrant of the galaxy really needs a hyperspace bypass.

[Guest]

Tch... They found my planet of origin. 

[Funyarinpa]

2 hours ago, Soulless Watcher said:

and this quadrant of the galaxy really needs a hyperspace bypass.

finally

finally I see a reference like this on Fuwa

[Dergonu]

This is kinda cool!

3 hours ago, Chatmod-chan said:

Tch... They found my planet of origin. 

[Guest]

Doesn't sound too convincing. Coincidences happen all the time in space.

Well I guess those guys know their shit better than I do but it's still hard to buy.

I'd rather follow the creation of the new fusion reactor in germany.

[Down]

Well I know planet X theories have been roaming around for decades, but this seems like the most convincing theoretical evidence astronomers have found so far, from whatever I read of it. Pretty exciting imo.

And even if it turns out to be nothing, well, science advances through bold hypotheses. Some day we'll find something exciting.

[Deep Blue]

it was their plan all along, to demote pluto as a dwarf planet so they can add this new one as the 9th and name it, I knew it. Pluto is still a planet in my heart.

[OriginalRen]

I don't think solidbatman is trolling. I actually love astronomy as well. I still read my old textbook from college when I was in the class.

[Narcosis]

INB4 a planet full of cat girls.

[Dergonu]

25 minutes ago, Narcosis said:

INB4 a planet full of cat girls.

Lets move there together then!

(Yes it might be like -250 degrees, but we will bring a coat and some coffee, we´ll be fine!)

[Abyssal Monkey]

7 hours ago, solidbatman said:

Alright peeps. Astronomy is a mild hobby of mine. The existence of a massive planet beyond the Kuiper Belt, or in it, has been a theoretical possibility for quite some time now. Neptune's orbit is a little bit wonky for its location, and the orbits of many discovered K-belt objects to come closest to the sun at a similar place. Some model runs of the early solar system also point to the existence of an ejected planet to explain other orbital, and placement issues. The WISE mission took a massive survey of the outer solar system looking for infrared signs of a planet, basically heat. The way it surveyed, it could have found anything Neptune sized, if it was within 700 AU (1 AU= 150 million km) or a Jupiter mass object up to 1 light year away. The WISE mission found nothing. 

 

So, if a planetary body is out there, it is farther out than 700AU, or smaller than Neptune and unable to be seen. What is far more likely here, is that a few billion years ago, in the early solar system, Jupiter migrated outward in the solar system, shoving Neptune beyond the orbit of Uranus. Another small gas planet could have been in the out solar system, and would have been ejected from all of the gravitational shannigans. If it had enough velocity, it could have easily escaped the Sun's gravitational influence to become a rogue planet, drifting through space without a star. It also could have stayed within the solar system, but is so insanely far out, that we will never be able to see it with current technology. If a 9th planet formed in the early solar system, this is most likely. However, there is also a good chance that such a planet never did exist, and the orbits are sheer coincidence. One thing about space, the odds of something happening, or against something happening don't really matter all that much with how little we know about it. So if someone says that chances of those orbits having their perihelion in a similar place is .007%, keep in mind the amount of odd things that had to happen to our own solar system, and planet, just to form life, and keep in mind that we struggle to find K-belt objects due to their tiny size and distance. 

Pluto, in my opinion, especially after the New Horizons mission, needs to be classified as a planet again. And I would much rather spend efforts exploring Pluto instead of this phantom planet.

tl;dr: Technically it is possible, but I'm not too sold on the theory and don't believe anything will be found in the next 5 years. Also, I don't have a degree in this field at all. 

Not to deny you or anything, but you have to respect their scientific endeavor at least.  If we wrote everything off as "lol RNG", we would never be thinking about the fact that our universe exists because for some reason something like "muons prefer to decay into matter over antimatter due to spin" or something like that.  Scientists don't like using Occam's Razor and that's how they justify their jobs. "Sure it could be random chance" is always taken after they test "We have this other hypothesis too". 

For the record though, I'm on your side on this one. Skeptical that a 9th super planet exists.

[solidbatman]

2 hours ago, Abyssal Monkey said:

Not to deny you or anything, but you have to respect their scientific endeavor at least.  If we wrote everything off as "lol RNG", we would never be thinking about the fact that our universe exists because for some reason something like "muons prefer to decay into matter over antimatter due to spin" or something like that.  Scientists don't like using Occam's Razor and that's how they justify their jobs. "Sure it could be random chance" is always taken after they test "We have this other hypothesis too". 

For the record though, I'm on your side on this one. Skeptical that a 9th super planet exists.

Oh yeah definitely. It won't be wasted effort trying to find it because we likely will end up learning something new, even if a 9th planet is not found. These guys know more than me, have a theory, and are looking to prove it basically. I'm just a guy at a computer who reads what these same people say and try to wrap my head around it all. 

[CeruleanGamer]

4 hours ago, Deep Blue said:

it was their plan all along, to demote pluto as a dwarf planet so they can add this new one as the 9th and name it, I knew it. Pluto is still a planet in my heart.

Quick! Let's create a petition in change.org to make Pluto an official planet again. I miss my childhood memories. I was forced to memorize all planets in grade school! How could they commit this blasphemous act by not making Pluto a planet anymore?

[Suzu Fanatic]

21 hours ago, Clephas said:

I think it is interesting...

@Suzu Fanatic Have you taken a look at the New Horizon's pictures for the Pluto system?

Not yet. I heard about them though - I'll have to look them up.