For nearly a decade, astronomers have been looking for signs of a ninth planet in the outer solar system. Their search may soon come to an end, thanks to a cutting-edge telescope that will begin scanning the sky next year.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which will open in 2025, could eventually help scientists find Planet Nine in the next few years, experts told Live Science.
Over the past few years, astronomers have proposed that a ninth planet, nicknamed “Planet Nine,” may be hiding in a distant region of our cosmic neighborhood.
Planet Nine is sometimes called Planet X. Scientists believe that Planet X is a giant body of gas or ice billions of miles away from the rest of the planets.
Planet Nine could be discovered within the next two years with the help of state-of-the-art telescopes, astronomer Mike Brown, who along with a colleague proposed the Planet Nine hypothesis, told Live Science.
The size of a small car and weighing 2.8 metric tons, this cutting-edge instrument will reveal a view of the universe like never before.
The $800 million camera will take its first images in early 2025 and will survey the sky every three days, helping scientists reach new heights in their galaxy analysis.
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According to NASA, Planet X has a composition similar to that of Neptune, but its mass could be up to 10 times that of Earth.
The US space agency also claimed that Planet X “may take 10,000 to 20,000 Earth years” to complete one orbit around the Sun.
The hypothetical Neptune-sized planet orbits the Sun in an orbit much more elongated than Pluto, the report said.
Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said the possibility of a new planet is exciting for science.
“However, this is not a discovery or detection of a new planet. It is too early to say with certainty that there is a so-called Planet X,” Mr Green said, adding that this is a preliminary prediction based on modelling derived from limited observations.
He added, “This is the beginning of a process that could lead to exciting results.”
There are currently eight planets in the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Pluto was the ninth planet in the Solar System, before it was downgraded from full planet status to “dwarf planet” in 2006.
