The Ninth Planet: Does it really exist?

For many years, scientists have been searching for the elusive "Ninth Planet" beyond Pluto, hypothesized to exist in the outer reaches of our Solar System. Despite years of searching and countless theories, the existence of the Ninth Planet has yet to be confirmed. However, recent discoveries have reignited the search, and scientists remain hopeful that the Ninth Planet will be found.

The idea of a ninth planet beyond Pluto was first proposed in the early 20th century by Percival Lowell, the founder of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Lowell noticed discrepancies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune that could not be explained by the gravitational pull of the other planets in our Solar System. He hypothesized that a massive object beyond Neptune was causing these discrepancies and began searching for the Ninth Planet.

Lowell passed away in 1916 before he could find the Ninth Planet, but his search continued. In the 1930s, Pluto was discovered, and many believed it to be the Ninth Planet. However, as technology advanced, it became clear that Pluto was much smaller than originally thought, and it was eventually reclassified as a dwarf planet.

In 2016, two scientists, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, reignited the search for the Ninth Planet with a new theory. They hypothesized that a planet ten times the mass of Earth existed in the outer reaches of our Solar System, and its gravity was influencing the orbits of several smaller objects beyond Neptune. These objects, known as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), all had similar orbits and tilts, suggesting that they were being influenced by a large gravitational force.

The search for the Ninth Planet gained even more attention in 2018 when astronomers discovered a TNO with an extremely elongated orbit that could only be explained by the gravitational pull of a massive object. This TNO, named 2015 TG387, or "The Goblin," was found to be in a highly elongated orbit that takes it as far as 2,300 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. Its orbit takes it close to where the Ninth Planet is believed to be, providing further evidence for its existence.

Despite the compelling evidence, the existence of the Ninth Planet has yet to be confirmed. Scientists have searched for it using telescopes and other instruments, but so far, they have been unsuccessful. However, scientists remain optimistic that the Ninth Planet will be found, and they are continuing to search for it.

One of the challenges in finding the Ninth Planet is its distance from the Sun. It is believed to be located beyond the Kuiper Belt, a region of the Solar System beyond Neptune that contains many TNOs. The Ninth Planet is thought to have an extremely elongated orbit that takes it as far as 1,000 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. (One AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.) At this distance, the Ninth Planet would receive only a small amount of sunlight, making it difficult to spot.

Another challenge is the Ninth Planet's size. If it does exist, it is believed to be a gas giant, like Jupiter or Saturn. However, it would be much smaller than these planets, making it even more difficult to spot.

Despite these challenges, scientists remain hopeful that the Ninth Planet will be found. New telescopes and instruments are being developed that could help in the search. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction in Chile, will be one of the most powerful telescopes ever built and will be able to survey the entire sky in just a few nights. Its powerful instruments could help in the search for the Ninth Planet.