Data from nearly four decades ago may indicate the presence of a ninth planet in the Solar System. The hypothetical planet 9 has been discussed by scientists for some time, but no one has yet observed it. Michael Rowan-Robinson, professor of astrophysics at Imperial College London, studied the data at the age of 38 and now claims to have found the fabled Planet 9. The data are derived from Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) readings from 1983, of which Robinson was also part. His statement does not imply that the planet has been discovered, but it helps narrow down the area of the sky where it can be found.
The discussion around Planet 9 first surfaced in January 2015. Two astronomers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) later suggested that a Neptune-sized planet orbits the Sun. along a long path that lies farther than Pluto.
Rowan-Robinson has published his research results in arXiv, an open-access repository for articles in physics, math, and computer science, among others.
The Caltech astronomers based their findings on modelling and computer simulations, not observations. According to these calculations, Planet 9 would be 10 times the mass of Earth. It will orbit the Sun about 20 times farther than Neptune, taking between 10,000 and 20,000 Earth years to complete one orbit around one sun.
Robinson also relies on infrared data. He speak, “I decided to scour through these catalogs looking for all the unidentified sources with galaxies or other objects such as stars.”
He looked at 250,000 objects detected by the satellite and narrowed them down to three potential Planet Nine candidates. In the end, he decided to focus only on an object located in an “awkward place” near the plane of the galaxy. Galaxy. But Robinson speculates that the “object” could be the result of “noise” from filamentous clouds that glow in infrared wavelengths.
The researchers suggest that detecting Planet 9 could be quite difficult. We may have to wait a few more years before its existence is proven. If proven, Planet Nine would be the first new planet discovered orbiting the Sun in two centuries.
Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, the man behind the 2015 Planet Nine model, went on to say that Robinson’s discovery could lead to an entirely new discovery rather than proving the 2015 hypothesis.
