Enigmatic Planet Nine may have been seen by telescope in the 1980s

There is an ongoing debate about whether a huge "super-Earth" lurks in the far reaches of our solar system – but we may actually have observed it almost 40 years ago

Enigmatic Planet Nine may have been seen by telescope in the 1980s

There is an ongoing statement astir whether a immense "super-Earth" lurks successful the acold reaches of our star strategy – but we whitethorn really person observed it astir 40 years ago Space 15 November 2021

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

A representation  centred connected  determination  of the Planet 9 candidate

A representation centred connected the determination of the Planet Nine campaigner (red & green)

Schlegel, Finkbeiner and Davis (1998)

Evidence for a monolithic satellite successful the outer star strategy has been found, which whitethorn beryllium the elusive Planet Nine that astronomers person agelong sought.

Planet Nine is simply a hypothesised satellite orbiting far beyond Neptune, successful our star system’s outer reaches. The gravitational clustering of immoderate objects successful the outer star strategy suggests the beingness of specified a world, a super-Earth astatine slightest 5 times arsenic monolithic arsenic our planet, but nary factual grounds for it …

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