The Only Place Planet X Could Be Hiding

Bright Side

Scientists think there might be another planet lurking in our solar system, but we haven't found it yet. The best guess is that it's chilling way out there beyond Pluto, where it's super dark and icy. Some folks even think it's hiding in the distant Kuiper Belt, blending in with all those other space rocks. But hey, until we get some solid proof, it's like trying to find a needle in a cosmic haystack. Still, the hunt's on, and who knows, maybe one day we'll stumble upon our mysterious ninth planet.  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00 So, we might be getting closer to finding a massive icy planet beyond Neptune's orbit.

00:05 Sorry, Pluto, still not you.

00:08 Recently, some universe mapping using data from a telescope in Hawaii eliminated about

00:13 78% of the possible locations for this mysterious Waldo from space.

00:19 Some people call it Planet Nine, while others prefer Planet X.

00:24 Either way, it's been causing controversy since its existence was first proposed, and

00:29 that is mainly because no study so far can answer the big question – does it really

00:35 exist?

00:36 If discovered, Planet Nine would rank as the fifth largest planet in our solar system,

00:41 with a mass 10 times that of Earth.

00:43 It's also theorized to be gaseous, like Uranus.

00:47 The initial study on Planet Nine, dating back to 2016, suggests that this colossal new planet

00:54 orbits the Sun 29 times farther out than Neptune, which sits at about 2.8 billion miles.

01:01 As a result, the Planet Nine would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete a single

01:07 orbit around the Sun.

01:09 If confirmed, this yet-to-be-understood world would dominate a region larger than any other

01:14 known planet in our cosmic neighborhood.

01:18 These are all intriguing hypotheses, but without a single piece of evidence or observation

01:23 to back them up.

01:25 Before dismissing this as a wild guess, it is important to note that these researchers

01:30 relied on complex mathematical modeling and computer simulations to speculate about the

01:36 planet's characteristics.

01:37 'Cause that's what they do.

01:39 The hypothetical presence of this planet would explain various mysterious features located

01:45 beyond Neptune.

01:46 We are specifically talking about the Kuiper Belt, a huge donut-shaped region filled with

01:52 icy debris left over from the formation of the Solar System, including comets and dwarf

01:57 planets like Pluto.

02:00 What happens is that the six farthest objects in the Kuiper Belt exhibit elliptical orbits

02:05 that are all oriented in a similar direction within physical space and tilted approximately

02:11 30 degrees downward relative to the orbital plane of our eight known planets.

02:16 What's strange here is that despite their distinct orbital velocities around the Solar

02:20 System, they maintain this alignment.

02:23 The likelihood of such alignment occurring randomly is extremely low, around 0.007%.

02:31 So here comes Planet Nine, a hypothetical massive celestial body that offers a plausible

02:37 explanation for this strange phenomenon, potentially exerting gravitational influence to shape

02:43 these orbits.

02:46 The initial theory didn't hold up for long, facing accusations of observational bias and

02:51 calculation errors.

02:53 Then in 2017, another study popped up, sparking back the idea that maybe Planet Nine is out

03:00 there after all.

03:02 This time, Spanish astronomers tried a novel approach, focusing on observing extreme trans-Neptunian

03:08 objects.

03:10 These celestial bodies orbit the Sun in highly stretched elliptical paths, with average distances

03:15 exceeding 13 billion miles.

03:18 The research suggests that the distances between these objects' nodes and the Sun might provide

03:23 clues to Planet Nine's location.

03:26 You see, these nodes are the points where a celestial body's orbit intersects the

03:31 Solar System's plane.

03:33 When these objects reach these points, they're more likely to interact with other Solar System

03:37 bodies, potentially causing significant changes in their orbits or even collisions.

03:43 So if the trajectory of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects remains stable, everything's fine.

03:50 But if it's not, well, that's a sign that something else, something big, is messing

03:55 with their path.

03:57 And that's exactly what the research found.

04:00 There is something unseen out there, throwing these objects off course.

04:04 And that something could be a planet, chilling at a distance between 300 to 400 times farther

04:10 from the Sun than Earth.

04:12 To this day, the study of the extreme trans-Neptunian objects is the strongest evidence we've

04:18 got for Planet Nine's existence.

04:20 And if you're still not convinced by this theory, know that strange motions like these

04:26 have led to planetary discoveries before.

04:28 Neptune, for instance, was spotted because Uranus' motion didn't quite agree with

04:33 the predictions of Newtonian gravity.

04:36 But the deflection of its orbit could be explained if it was caused by a pull of an undiscovered

04:42 planet.

04:43 And just like that, we discovered Neptune.

04:48 The year is 2021, and there's all this buzz about Planet Nine again.

04:53 After correcting some old guesses, studies are now leaning towards the idea that this

04:58 mystery world follows an epic loop around the Sun every 7,000 years.

05:03 That is massive news, because it means this planet might be closer than we ever thought,

05:09 making it easier for our telescopes to spot it.

05:12 The paper also suggests there is a whopping 99% chance that the funky orbits of these

05:17 distant objects are all because of this unseen planet, not just some cosmic coincidence.

05:24 The odds of this whole situation being a fluke are down to a 1 in 250 chance, which is much

05:31 better than the 1 in 10,000 chance back in 2016.

05:36 All these optimistic numbers have brought us to where we are today, keeping our hopes

05:41 and working on better equipment to continue the mission of spotting Planet Nine.

05:46 As mentioned earlier, researchers in Hawaii created some kind of treasure map, utilizing

05:51 the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System to eliminate 78% of its locations.

05:58 This is great news, considering how challenging it is to find a planet-sized needle in a cosmic

06:04 haystack.

06:05 Unfortunately, Planet Nine's presence remains a ghost in the dark outer reaches of our Solar

06:11 System.

06:13 Enthusiasts are still convinced of its existence and believe it is only a matter of time before

06:18 we celebrate the discovery of Earth's new cosmic cousin.

06:22 They're putting their hopes on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is currently under

06:26 construction in Chile and is scheduled to begin science operations in late 2025.

06:33 Over the course of 10 years, this observatory will scan the entire Southern Hemisphere sky

06:38 every few nights with a 27-foot, fast-moving telescope equipped with the largest digital

06:44 camera in the world.

06:46 The idea is to catalog everything in the Solar System, reaching out to and beyond Neptune,

06:52 and tracking the movements of millions of celestial objects, including space junk, asteroids,

06:58 comets, and stars.

06:59 If Planet Nine is indeed out there, this next-generation telescope could be the one to find it.

07:07 The existence of this mysterious planet is far from being universally accepted in the

07:11 scientific community.

07:13 That is simply because Planet Nine isn't the only explanation for the strange phenomenon

07:19 occurring beyond Neptune.

07:21 One theory suggests that a group of distant objects, such as dwarf planets, comets, and

07:26 moons, might be collectively influencing the orbits of the extreme trans-Neptunian objects.

07:33 Others believe that a black hole is behind all this.

07:36 These compressed masses are some of the densest objects in the universe, potentially capable

07:41 of affecting the orbits of other masses, like how this supposed ghost Planet Nine is believed

07:46 to be doing.

07:49 Another bold perspective suggests that our current understanding of the laws of gravity

07:53 is flawed, actually incomplete.

07:57 This theory, known as Modified Newtonian Dynamics, proposes that these distant icy objects exhibit

08:03 strange behavior not due to influence from another planet, but rather because the immense

08:09 gravitational field of the Milky Way is influencing them.

08:13 However, even supporters of this theory acknowledge that it is too early to draw firm conclusions,

08:19 and much more extensive research is still required.

08:24 While we continue our relentless hunt for Planet Nine, some astronomers have taken it

08:29 a step further, suggesting the existence of a hypothetical Planet Ten.

08:35 This world has a mass and size like that of Mars or Earth and is located on the edges

08:40 of the Kuiper Belt.

08:42 But the thing is, if this alleged Planet Ten is indeed as small as scientists believe,

08:47 it might not have enough gravity to clear its orbit of debris.

08:51 And that is pretty similar to what happens with Pluto, being one of the reasons why it

08:55 got into trouble back in 2006.

08:59 So yeah, it's better not to get too excited.

09:01 This supposed Planet Ten might end up classified as another dwarf planet.

09:06 That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

09:11 and share it with your friends!

09:13 Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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