Researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have gathered evidence that a ninth planet, dubbed “Planet Nine”, exists. With the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf-planet, this massive planet might be a good replacement.
According to an Caltech, researchers are calling this planet, the most “planet-y” of planets because of the incredibly large region it occupies and because of its gravitational dominance.
The discovery of the possibility of this Planet Nine’s existence is important because it would mean that our solar systems is not unlike other solar systems in the universe. That’s because most solar systems have a planet with a large mass, between 1 and 10 Earth-masses, a planet that until now we haven’t had.
The Atlantic reports that the researchers, one of who played a large role in the demotion of Pluto’s planetary status, noticed that something was pulling debris into orbits. The planet remains to be visibly seen. For now, these orbits of debris are what the researchers are studying.
The scientists, as reported by The Atlantic, stated that only a planet with a huge gravitational force could cause sediment and ice to to orbit. In the article the notion of interstellar travel was brought up as the discovery of such a distant planet could make refueling and resupplying possible for long periods of travel. Or could it? In the article, according to expert Freeman Dyson, no.
the planet remains to be discovered.
Researchers that are publishing the finding are hopeful that this information will inspire other scientists to search for the unseen planet. According to a CNN report, the researches have little doubt as to whether or not there is a planet out there and whether or not it is an actual planet. For now the planet remains to be discovered.
