Somewhere beyond Neptune, a planet five times more massive than Earth may be silently orbiting our sun, invisible yet powerful enough to sculpt the outer solar system’s architecture.
Michael E. Brown, professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech and the astronomer who famously “killed” Pluto, will present his case for “Planet Nine” at Mt. Wilson Observatory on August 9.
“This is the fifth-largest planet in our solar system, lurking out there, waiting to be found,” Brown said in a recent NPR interview.
Brown and colleague Konstantin Batygin identified orbital patterns in distant Kuiper Belt objects suggesting an unseen gravitational puppetmaster.
“In the past 175 years, more than 30 separate astronomers have suggested the existence of a giant planet beyond Neptune. They have always been wrong. In 2016, Konstantin Batygin and I joined the list, suggesting that Planet Nine…is the only plausible explanation for a wide range of phenomena in the distant solar system,” Brown noted.
The hypothetical planet would have a mass of approximately 5 to 10 times Earth’s, orbiting at 300 to 520 astronomical units from the sun.
Despite no visual confirmation, Brown remains confident. “I just don’t see a way that the solar system can exist the way it does without there being a Planet 9, so I am extraordinarily confident that this thing is really out there,” he told NPR.
“Talks & Telescopes: Mike Brown” will run on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 5:30 p.m. Mt. Wilson Observatory, 100 Mt Wilson Circle Rd, Mount Wilson, in Pasadena. For more call (626) 214-8030 or visit https://www.mtwilson.edu/events/talk080925/. Tickets: $50.
