Planet Nine: does it exist?

[Kyng]

One of the great unresolved mysteries of astronomy today is the proposed 'Planet Nine', which allegedly lurks in the outer reaches of the Solar System. Nobody's seen it yet, and we can't be sure at this stage whether it exists or not; however, there is quite a lot of circumstantial evidence for it. In particular, quite a lot of bodies in the outer Solar System have unusual orbits, which could be explained by by the existence of this hypothetical as-yet-undiscovered planet. 

We've said quite a lot about it over here, on the old forum - but, as I said, we don't yet have proof that it even exist. Is it out there - and, if so, how long will it take before somebody finds it?

[MegaphoneStallone]

.

[Detective Osprey]

I absolutely think it exists, because there's proof. But not what we're going to do if it's not actually there.

[Kyng]

Well, there is plenty of indirect evidence of it, but nobody seems quite sure. 

No sightings yes, but another piece of evidence has been found. It's a new dwarf planet called 'The Goblin', whose orbit looks as though it's being tugged by Planet Nine: 

https://www.space.com/41995-dwarf-planet...-nine.html

[Deleted User 35]

It exists.
It's called Pluto.

Boom.

Pluto ain't a planet. 
You can call it one, but you'd be wrong.

[Kyng]

Or we can have Pluto back, and we can just replace "Planet Nine" with "Planet Ten" . 

(Or "Planet Eleven", since if Pluto were a planet, then Eris would have to be one too)

[BayRunner]

I wish they would have never changed the status of Pluto.

[Kyng]

Yeah, I'll admit that I miss it sometimes. I mean, I completely understand the scientific justification for demoting it - but, even so, I grew up with Pluto being a planet !

[Kyng]

While the evidence has continued to mount up, some researchers (including Antranik Sefilian from the University of Cambridge, and Jihad Touma from the American University of Beirut) have come up with an alternative explanation. In The Astronomical Journal, they suggest that these anomalies might be caused not by a 'Planet Nine', but by a vast cloud or belt of smaller objects, which would have the same gravitational effect: 

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/massiv...06838.html

It's much less exciting than a whole new planet, but I'm sure there would still be plenty to find and investigate there!

[Detective Osprey]

Oh... that gives my hopes up for a new planet. ;(