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'Planet Nine' Can't Hide Much Longer, Scientists Say
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | October 20, 2016 08:55am ET
http://www.space.com/34455-planet-nin...

Planet Nine's days of lurking unseen in the dark depths of the outer solar system may be numbered.

The hypothetical giant planet, which is thought to be about 10 times more massive than Earth, will be discovered within 16 months or so, astronomer Mike Brown predicted.

"I'm pretty sure, I think, that by the end of next winter — not this winter, next winter — I think that there'll be enough people looking for it that … somebody's actually going to track this down," Brown said during a news conference Wednesday (Oct. 19) at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) and the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) in Pasadena, California. Brown said that eight to 10 groups are currently looking for the planet.

At the "next one of these [DPS-EPSC meetings], we'll be talking about finding Planet Nine instead of just looking for it," added Brown, who's based at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.

That would be a pretty quick path from hypothetical planet to confirmed world. The existence of Planet Nine was seriously proposed for the first time just in 2014, by astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., and the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, respectively.

Sheppard and Trujillo noted that the dwarf planet Sedna, the newfound object 2012 VP113 and several other bodies far beyond Pluto share certain odd orbital characteristics, a coincidence that would make sense if their paths through space had been shaped by an unseen, giant "perturber" in the region.

The researchers suggested that this putative planet is perhaps two to 15 times more massive than Earth and lies hundreds of astronomical units (AU) from the sun. (One AU is the Earth-sun distance, about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.)

This interpretation was bolstered in January of this year by Brown and fellow Caltech astronomer Konstantin Batygin, who found evidence of a perturber's influence in the orbits of a handful of additional distant objects. This "Planet Nine," as Batygin and Brown dubbed the putative world, likely contains about 10 Earth masses and orbits on a highly elliptical path whose aphelion (farthest distance from the sun) is about 1,000 AU, the researchers said. (For perspective, Pluto gets just 49.3 AU from the sun at aphelion.)

The evidence for Planet Nine's existence has continued to grow over the past nine months, as several different research teams have determined that the orbits of other small, distant objects appear to have been sculpted as well.

One team, led by Renu Malhotra of the University of Arizona, discussed four such objects at the DPS/EPSC meeting Wednesday. And Brown's team, led by Elizabeth Bailey of Caltech, announced at the meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 18) that Planet Nine appears to have tilted the orbits of all eight "official" planets by 6 degrees relative to the sun.

The ongoing Planet Nine research also includes efforts to pin down where the world might be in the sky these days. This is a key part of the discovery effort, since a blind search for an object so far away, and with such a huge and elliptical orbit, has little chance of success in the near term, Brown has said.[Evidence Mounts for Existence of 'Planet Nine' (Video)]

It's likely that Planet Nine is currently at or near aphelion, located perhaps 1,000 AU from the sun, in a patch of sky measuring about 400 square degrees, Brown said. (For comparison, the full moon viewed from Earth covers about 0.5 degrees of sky.)

Astronomers have said Planet Nine is perhaps four times wider than Earth, and such an object would be easily visible with professional-grade equipment if it were relatively close to Earth, Brown explained. In addition, planets on highly elliptical orbits spend most of their time near aphelion, since they're traveling most slowly on this part of their path, he said.

An object four times bigger than Earth that's located at 1,000 AU would have a magnitude of about +25 on astronomers' brightness scale, Brown added.

"This is well within reach of the giant telescopes," he said. "The Subaru telescope, I think, on Mauna Kea, [in Hawaii] — the Japanese national telescope — is the prime instrument for doing the search. But there are a lot of other people who have clever ideas on how to find it, too, that are trying with their own telescopes."

So which research team will ultimately find Planet Nine? Brown said he isn't sure, and he stressed that getting credit for the historic discovery should be a secondary concern for astronomers.

"There are a lot of people looking, and we are trying as hard as we can to tell people where to look," he said. "We want it to be found."

P.S. I am still annoyed they removed pluto from the list of planets!
They downgraded Pluto to a moon!
Someone should start a petition:
Bring back Pluto!
Bring back Pluto!

I don't give a shit who downgraded what. That was a BS political brouhaha, Not science. It is definitely a planet. Those schmucks who said otherwise are jagoffs.

This is the problem with today: trends and fads everywhere.

Helloooo. Scientists can't even agree on vital, life-threatening earth crises like climate-change, so who the hell are they to go around reversing accepted nomenclature for things like little Pluto?

Hellooo (#2), where is the son of an effin' respect for Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer? Oh! Okay so here is a luminary of the field of astronomy, a guy who dedicated his life to his field. He slaves away to locate this orb and decades later, some Starbucks-swilling yardbirds come along and overturn his achievement. Well EFF THEM

Pointless frippery. Its a planet as far as I'm concerned.

This other thing thought...are you sure you aren't tawkin' about 'Plan 9'? 'PLAN 9 from Outer Space'?

Well the Pluto moon just doesn't have the same ring to it, mate.

thats for dang sure.

'Moon' of what? Of what planet is it a moon OF?

and they probably didn't even consult the PFN (Psychic Friends Network) before rashly going ahead with their radical change. Their moon was IN PLUTO and they didn't even realize it.

Actually sorry Pluto hasn't been downgraded to a moon, as in fact it has 5 moons orbiting around it.

It's been downgraded to a "dwarf planet", whatever that means.

Check it out...

Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond Neptune.[11] It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered.
Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and was originally considered to be the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its planethood was questioned following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto, was discovered. This led the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term "planet" formally.[12] That definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet.[13]
Pluto is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris, a dwarf planet in the scattered disc. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock[14] and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume.

Anyone know if this Planet Nine is the same rumored planet that was formerly referred to as Planet X a decade or so back?

'dwarf'? 'Dwarf'???

How is THAT insensitive slur [so demeaning to society's little-people] allowed to be used so freely by these reckless eggheads?

Maybe the scientists were fans of that TV show RED DWARF...

maybe they were reds. too.

James wrote: "Anyone know if this Planet Nine is the same rumored planet that was formerly referred to as Planet X a decade or so back?"

Yes, it is planet X

Krishna wrote: "Yes, it is planet X"

Okay thanks for letting me know.

Funny how Planet X used to be more of a conspiracy theory, but now quite a few mainstream scientists seem to be believers.

Of course, if the planet is proven to eventually exist the fact that it used to be only a conspiracy theory will be swept under the carpet in that annals of history ;)

well probably we will have to wait nearly a year or so for the confirmation.....

Hmm, Scientist's postulate that there is a large planet out beyond Pluto and then it becomes Planet X? That would be the one that will destroy us, right? http://planetxnews.com/2016/06/16/ove...

Let's have some rational proof folks.

David wrote: "Let's have some rational proof folks. ..."

Ask and ye shall receive, Dave:

From a little space agency you may have heard of called NASA:

Hypothetical 'Planet X': Overview http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/p...

From the respected astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope:

Making the Case for “Planet Nine” http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astron...
It has been almost a century since Percival Lowell — the astronomer who predicted the existence of a “Planet X” beyond Neptune — died. But the hunt is still on. In January, Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown (Caltech) presented evidence (in the form of slight orbital quirks among some of the solar system’s most distant objects) that suggests a massive planet, perhaps 4 times the size of Earth, lurks in the outer solar system. If true, the discovery would rewrite those kindergarten lesson plans.

Hypothetical Planet Nine May Be A Rogue World Captured By The Sun, Researchers Say http://www.ibtimes.com/hypothetical-p...

The mystery of Planet X deepens: Expert believes a mysterious ninth planet is to blame for wiping out the dinosaurs - and it could threaten humanity http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetec...
Yesterday, more evidence for mysterious 'Planet Nine' was revealed
Astrophysicist suggests this planet could have caused extinctions
As Planet X orbits the sun, its tilted orbit slowly rotates and it passes through the Kuiper belt of comets every 27 million years
This orbit causes comets to be knocked into the inner solar system


P.S. However, if you feel you're a more "rational" thinker than all these astrophysicists, then I'm all ears :)

P.P.S. Reinstate Pluto! Reinstate Pluto! Reinstate Pluto!

Oh, I believe there is a planet out there, but I have a hard time believing it is headed into the inner solar system and we are all going to croak before the end of the year.

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/p...

Tough to beat the Daily Mail for evidence: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetec...

on the other hand:
http://www.space.com/32515-planet-nin...

If we are all dying I will make a point to say you were correct James unless the internet fails first. In that case you can say I told you so.

David wrote: "Oh, I believe there is a planet out there, but I have a hard time believing it is headed into the inner solar system and we are all going to croak before the end of the year."

Yeah, I don't buy that crap either.
I think all those doomsday predictions usually relate to people trying to enact religious end-of-the-world prophecies.
But you never know, I guess something must've wiped out the dinos too.

P.S. Reinstate Pluto! Reinstate Pluto!

Agree about Pluto

As for Dino's, science alert-no radical alien interventions or Nemesis ideas considered.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids...

James wrote: "David wrote: "Let's have some rational proof folks. ..."

Ask and ye shall receive, Dave:

From a little space agency you may have heard of called NASA:

Hypothetical 'Planet X': Overview http://s..."

That's some good info James........so even if planet 9 triggers a comet shower that will destroy the world, it'll probably be after a few million yrs (probably by then human beings will be evolved in some other species)

We'll be living on Planex X/9 or Pluto long before then, Krish.

can't be Pluto James, it's a dwarf planet...... considering the massive human population we need a bigger "planet".... planet 9 seems a good option

Krishna wrote: "can't be Pluto James, it's a dwarf planet...... considering the massive human population we need a bigger "planet".... planet 9 seems a good option"

Okay Krish, let me know when lift off is to Planet #9.

may not be related to the post....but earth also has a mini moon...

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science...

new definition of planets proposed.....pluto may be back soon!

http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scie...

Krishna wrote: "new definition of planets proposed.....pluto may be back soon!

http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scie..."

Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!
I see Pluto may be able to soon return to the Solar System's list of planets!!

So if Pluto returns, then Planet 9 will become Planet X again, right?

yes! and also school books will be changed soon....

James wrote: "So if Pluto returns, then Planet 9 will become Planet X again, right?"Planet 9 (if it is a planet, could be a brown dwarf) is presumed to be responsible for clustering of Kuiper belt objects caused by gravitational nudging by some body far out in our solar system, around 700AU, which is around 20 times further from the sun than Neptune. Astro heads at Yale indicate that Planet 9 could be hiding in an area around the constellation of Cetus the Whale. So watch this outer space!

is there a planet 10 too?

http://www.mlive.com/news/us-world/in...

p. s I am confused....

Counting PLUTO?????

what I understood from the article is that planet 9 and 10 are 2 different planets....

p. s I'm still super confused

Krishna I only have one thing to say...

Bring back Pluto!
Bring back Pluto!
Bring back Pluto!

(C'mon everybody, sing with me!)

Bring back Pluto!
We want Pluto!

we should stop planetary discrimination...!!

Ok whoa whoa whoa....I remember when I was in Kindergarten(17 now) that there was Already a planet X. But I also know that Pluto was Pluto because there was this toy I loved to play with and It sang about the planets. Might've been a blue's clues thing Idk. I can't remember the whole song but I do remember it saying "Neptune's really windy and Pluto's really small now you've learned the planets and now named them all." does that mean that my childhood is a lie?

Goldenpetal wrote: "Ok whoa whoa whoa....I remember when I was in Kindergarten(17 now) that there was Already a planet X. But I also know that Pluto was Pluto because there was this toy I loved to play with and It san..."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rc... it was Blue's clues

It's like planetary Apartheid...
Whatever colour is Pluto, somebody doesn't like that colour I tell ya!

Well since Pluto is basically covered in ice it's a bluish purple color and very pale

Goldenpetal wrote: "Well since Pluto is basically covered in ice it's a bluish purple color and very pale"

though when the sun hits it,it may turn an orange yellow color because of the reflection

I miss Pluto being a planet but if we make it a planet then what about the same size or bigger objects in the asteroid belt? Do they get planet status or would Pluto just be an exception? ---just wondering out loud :-)

Pluto deserves to be an exception, Troy, due to historical significance and nostalgia and sentimentality (think of all the Broadway songs that mention it...). And you think scientists didn't know its size before?! You've fallen for the anti-Plutonians' propaganda! :)

I could see bringing it back to planetary status. I was just wondering where the line was. :-)

Astro publications refer to Pluto as a dwarf planet. However it's size doesn't mean it is dull. Pluto has five moons, an atmosphere, still geologically active with evidence of cryovolcanism, ice flows, nitrogen ice, carbon monoxide ice, water ice and methane snow, the largest glacier in the solar system and possible water ice oceans under its surface. New Horizons that flew by almost two years back will enter the Kuiper belt in another couple of years to look for another three dwarf planets (big asteroids).

I am biased in this discussion, because I have published a theory of planetary formation which is different from the standard theory. In this, there are various zones of different temperatures in the accretion disk, and certain temperatures are far superior to the general zone to get accretion going. The net result of that is we get the planetary systems we have with difference chemical compositions. (such as Earth being a rocky planet with a lot of water AND the only rocky planet with significant granitic/felsic material - aka the continents upon which we live). Now the interesting thing about this is I argued that there could well be another planet at about 90 A.U. from the sun, because there is another method by which such a planet could form. Because it is somewhat colder out that far, the error range of guessing the optimum temperature is unfortunately high, so it is plus or minus a lot. But if it is found, expect me to jump up and down a bit.

Problem with a "planet" that far out is that it's orbit is too large to allow it to sweep the "neighborhood." In their definition, the IAU basically ruled out the "planet" designation for a body that far out. It may be 10 times the size of Earth, but it would have to classify as a "dwarf planet."

That said, I don't see why they needed to come up with the new classification when we already had terms like "planetoid" and "planetisimal." But I guess it's like Neil deGrasse Tysaon said in his fifth season guest spot on Stargate Atlantis, it's all about making astronomy new and exciting for kids again.

How can it be 10 times the size of Earth, yet a "dwarf" planet??

And coming back to Pluto...which is where my heart is at...
Could there be a conspiracy going on here?!

Like, maybe "they" are building a colony, a breakaway civilization, on Pluto...But they want less attention on it...I mean, the new kids on the block won't care about a moon or dwarf or planetoid or whatever term they are now using to further outcast Pluto...So they completely downgrade it, throw it out of the entire Solar System, so nobody pays any attention to it anymore...All the white "they" are building a paradise on the PLANET Pluto! :)

It doesn't have to sweep the neighbourhood because none of the others do - count the number of asteroids between Mars and Venus. I note that since the last post I made, another report has come in postulating another planet of size between Mars and 2 times Earth at < 100 A.U. My predicted position in my ebook "Planetary formation and Biogenesis" was 95 A.U. Someone, please find it :-)

Like, maybe "they" are building a colony, a breakaway civilization, on Pluto...But they want less attention on it.

There, there James, don't worry, just take your medications, everything is alright, the paranoia will soon pass.

Pete wrote: "There, there James, don't worry, just take your medications, everything is alright, the paranoia will soon pass. ..."

I can always count on you for having a sense of humour, Pete, and spotting the difference between serious posts and not-so serious ones.

James wrote: I can always count on you for having a sense of humour, Pete, and..."Ha! Yes, maybe it's old age....or I'm a fully paid up cynic!