Astronomers investigate potential existence of Planet 9

Astronomers continue to investigate the possibility of a hidden planet, often referred to as ‘Planet 9’, located in the far reaches of our solar system. While the discovery of Neptune in 1846 proved that unseen worlds could be inferred through gravitational effects on other bodies, the search has evolved significantly over the last century.

Historically, astronomer Percival Lowell proposed the existence of ‘Planet X’ to explain orbital anomalies in Uranus and Neptune. However, data from the Voyager 2 missions in the 1980s suggested these orbits could be explained without an additional large body.

Modern research has shifted focus further beyond Neptune. In 2016, Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown proposed that the unusual orbits of certain distant trans-Neptunian objects could be caused by the gravitational pull of a relatively large, unknown planet moving at a vast distance from the Sun.