Caltech astronomer Mike Brown believes that a massive, yet undetected planet may be located beyond Neptune, in the outermost regions of the solar system. According to Brown, this potential planet could be the fifth largest in the solar system, still waiting to be discovered.
For nearly a decade, Brown and other researchers have investigated the possibility of “Planet 9” based on unusual patterns observed in the orbits of small Pluto-like celestial bodies. These orbital anomalies could potentially be explained by the gravitational influence of a large, distant planet.
So far, no direct observation of Planet 9 has been made. Its distance would make it a very faint object, and the region of the sky that scientists must search is vast.
A promising development in the search is the upcoming commissioning of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile. The observatory, a joint initiative by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE), has been under construction for several years and is expected to begin fine-tuning its instruments later this month.
Brown sees this observatory as a uniquely suitable tool for the task. “If you gave me a big wad of cash and told me to build a telescope to either find Planet 9 or collect the best possible evidence for it, I would probably build the Vera Rubin Observatory,” he said. “It really is a telescope that is perfectly suited for making the next step.”
