Someone notify Sailor Moon, there’s possibly another planet in our solar system and this time it might actually fit NASA’s requirement for “planet status.”
Two astronomers from Caltech have compiled strong evidence of the planet’s orbit. A professor of planetary astronomy, Michael Brown, and colleague Konstantin Batygin were skeptical at first but after observing unusual orbits in the scattered disc region of the Kuiper belt, a field of icy debris beyond Neptune. Simulations and calculations suggest that these unusual orbits are being influenced by something big, likely a planet.
Nicknamed “Planet 9,” which sounds awfully like the title of a science fiction story, It is believed to be 20 times the size of Earth. It’s said to have 5,000 times the mass of Pluto and its orbit is estimated to take 10,000 to 20,000 Earth years to revolve around the sun, meaning that if you lived here, you and your great, great, great children would never live to see your first birthday.
Don’t despair about never having a birthday there just yet. NASA believes there’s just not enough evidence just yet. They said it’s possible but there just isn’t enough there to declare it.
So until we explore a little further into the crevices and chasms of our solar system and actually find Planet 9, we’re at least aware of this exciting possiblity. Astronomers, keep looking up and working hard. Make it so.