Planet Nine really DOES exist, scientists say - as they reveal exactly how we could find the secret world
It's a question that has baffled scientists around the world for years.
Is there really a ninth planet hiding in our solar system?
And if so, how do we find it?
Now, researchers from Rice University claim to have fresh evidence of Planet Nine - as well as a method to find it.
Based on complex simulations, the team says there's around a 40 per cent chance that a Planet Nine-like object is hiding in our solar system.
And if it does exist, it could be discovered using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, they say.
Located on a mountaintop in Chile, this observatory features the largest camera ever built - and is set to send back its first images within weeks.
'With its unparalleled ability to survey the sky in depth and detail, the observatory is expected to significantly advance the search for distant solar system objects, increasing the likelihood of either detecting Planet Nine or providing the evidence needed to rule out its existence,' the researchers said in a statement.
Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet, first theorised by astronomers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) back in 2016.
Said to have a mass about five to 10 times that of Earth, this hypothetical, Neptune-sized planet would circle our sun on a highly elongated path, far beyond Pluto.
If it does exist, Planet Nine could help to explain the unique orbits of some smaller objects in the Kupier Belt - a region of icy debris that extends far beyond the orbit of Neptune.
In their new study, the team set out to understand whether or not Planet Nine could really exist.
Using complex simulations, the team showed that wide-orbit planets like Planet Nine are not anomalies.
Instead, they're natural by-products of a chaotic early phase in planetary system development, according to the team.
'Essentially, we're watching pinballs in a cosmic arcade,' said André Izidoro, lead author of the study.
'When giant planets scatter each other through gravitational interactions, some are flung far away from their star.
'If the timing and surrounding environment are just right, those planets don't get ejected, but rather they get trapped in extremely wide orbits.'
The simulations showed that planets are pushed into these wide orbits by internal instabilities, before being stabilised by the gravitational influence of nearby stars.
'When these gravitational kicks happen at just the right moment, a planet's orbit becomes decoupled from the inner planetary system,' explained Nathan Kaib, co-author of the study.
'This creates a wide-orbit planet—one that's essentially frozen in place after the cluster disperses.'
As for what this means for Planet Nine, the researchers say there's now a 40 per cent change that the world exists.
'Our simulations show that if the early solar system underwent two specific instability phases—the growth of Uranus and Neptune and the later scattering among gas giants—there is up to a 40% chance that a Planet Nine-like object could have been trapped during that time,' Dr Izidoro said.
The team now hopes to use the Vera C. Rubin Observatory to prove the existence of Planet Nine once and for all.
'As we refine our understanding of where to look and what to look for, we're not just increasing the odds of finding Planet Nine,' Dr Izidoro added.
'We're opening a new window into the architecture and evolution of planetary systems throughout the galaxy.'
PLANET NINE: ORBITS OF OBJECTS BEYOND NEPTUNE SUGGEST 'SOMETHING LARGE' IS THERE
Astronomers believe that the orbits of a number of bodies in the distant reaches of the solar system have been disrupted by the pull of an as yet unidentified planet.
First proposed by a group at CalTech in the US, this alien world was theorised to explain the distorted paths seen in distant icy bodies.
In order to fit in with the data they have, this alien world - popularly called Planet Nine - would need to be roughly four times the size of Earth and ten times the mass.
Researchers say a body of this size and mass would explain the clustered paths of a number of icy minor planets beyond Neptune.
Its huge orbit would mean it takes between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make a single pass around the sun.
The theoretical Planet Nine is based on the gravitational pull it exerts on these bodies, with astronomers confident it will be found in the coming years.
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