Planet 9: Hypothetical or Real?
Heard about Planet 9?
Some astronomers predict a planet to orbit the sun with a period of 10,000 years, a mass 5x that of Earth on a highly elliptical and inclined orbit. They want to call it Planet 9.
What evidence supports the existence of such a strange object at the edge of our solar system?
As of September 2019, no observation of Planet Nine had been announced. However, existence of a Neptune-diameter object in the outer Solar System, is not ruled out.
Here's a latest trending video that dives into the mystery of Plane 9.
The planet 9 hypothesis helps explain clustering of orbits of distant Kuiper belt objects.
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Well, there may be mathematical suggestions, but unless there is tangible evidence Planet 9 remains hypothetical.
I heard about the Pluto controversy. Is Planet 9 part of same controversy?
In a way, yes. The controversy is about its name. The hypothetical planet 9 has not been directly observed. Instead, scientists have predicted its existence based on the strange, unexplained orbits of a handful of distant objects. Check this out why some scientists angry over the controversy: https://www.newsweek.com/scientists-are-angry-about-planet-9-and-its-because-pluto-1053682