Eureka! New Evidence Points to the Existence of Planet 9 in Our Solar System

Astronomers have recently uncovered new evidence that supports the existence of Planet 9 in our solar system. The proof comes from studying the behavior of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), a group of celestial bodies found beyond Neptune. In a study published on arXiv, a team led by Konstantin Batygin at the California Institute of Technology tracked the movements of long-period objects that cross Neptune’s orbit and display irregular motions during their trajectory.

Using detailed calculations and astrophysical simulations, the team explored two scenarios that could maintain the stability of these TNOs: the presence of Planet 9 or interactions with the galactic tide and Neptune’s dispersion. The results showed that while Planet 9 would produce a flat perihelion distribution of objects crossing Neptune, the model without Planet 9 produced a distribution peaking around 30 Astronomical Units (AU). After adjusting for observational bias, the data strongly supported the existence of Planet 9 at a 5 sigma level of confidence on a scale of 6.

The discovery provides compelling evidence that Planet 9 is indeed present in our solar system. While its exact location in the sky remains unknown from this research, future observatories like Vera Rubin may help detect it. Despite uncertainties, Batygin remains confident that further research and observation will continue to shed light on this intriguing celestial body.