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The Theorized Body called Planet Nine

April 12th 2016  - Rajvi Rana

Researcher Michael E. Brown, previously known demoting Pluto’s status to that of a dwarf planet, has theorized the existence of a new planet, Planet X, widely known as Planet Nine.

On January 20, 2016, together with Konstantin Batygin at Caltech,Brown hypothesized the existence of a massive planet- supposedly 10 times massive than Earth -orbiting the distant, outer reaches of the solar system. Now, more evidence for this still hypothetical planet is being discovered, triggering the hunt for this undiscovered planet.

According to Batygin and Brown, Planet Nine’s existence can be explained through the motion and behaviour of six distinct objects in the Kuiper Belt (the icy region lying outside of Neptune). To put it simply, the two researchers did not see this planet, but rather speculated its existence through the six objects’ arguments of perihelion.

A planet’s argument of perihelion is the ratio of how much it wobbles, to how much rolls as it orbits the sun. Therefore, it was naturally abnormal for Brown and Batygin to notice how these very objects in the Kuiper Belt all had the same argument of perihelion.

The reasoning for this goes, that there must be some massive, yet very far off and distant, object shaping these orbits. Brown and Batygin believe that the reason behind this is what they now hypothesize as Planet Nine.

If it is real, how would this “Planet Nine” look? According to Christoph Mordasini and Esther Linder, Planet Nine would have to have an highly elliptical orbit around the Sun, coming in as close as 200 AU to as far as 600 or 1,200 AUs (one AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun). The planet would be a smaller version of the gas giants, Uranus and Neptune, with an atmosphere primarily of hydrogen and helium, with a temperature of around -266 degrees Celsius.

Despite Brown, NASA, and even astronomers putting emphasis on Planet Nine being only a hypothetical existence, social media has not made it an exception to blowing up its theoretical presence out of proportion.

In fact, even the New York Post uploaded a video on how Planet Nine may very well be the reason behind the periodical mass extinctions here on Earth, causing false naming of Planet Nine as “Planet Nibiru” or “Planet Nemesis”. Not to worry, for if this were true, then Earth’s death is long overdue.

How about some comical relief? Brown even posted a tweet saying, “Hey, so, fun fact? Planet Nine is not going to cause the earth's destruction. If you read that it will, you have discovered idiotic writing!” Idiotic writing indeed.

It is amazing how much of effort is being put in uncovering the truth behind Planet Nine. Is it real? Or is there another explanation behind the noticeable gravitational pull on the objects in the Kuiper Belt? The investigation continues but constantly, astronomers and researchers are putting the pieces together as they uncover more about Planet Nine, and the rest of the universe.