Planet X - Another Planet in the Solar System?

August 9, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

The Solar System is a gravitationally bound planetary system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it. Till 2006, it was a fact that there are 9 planets in the Solar System but then Pluto was classified as ineligible for the rank of a planet and therefore, it was called a dwarf planet instead. There are many reasons for this with one being its small size. 

Henceforth, the Solar System was known to have 8 planets. I have explained in detail about nearly all of the aspects of these planets in my previous blogs. There are 4 rocky planets, 2 gas giants, and 2 ice giants in the Solar System. However, there is another object lurking in the dark which has baffled the scientists as they cannot find its exact location.

This object is known as 'Planet X' or 'Planet 9'. It is a hypothetical planet which may be the size of Neptune and it orbits the Sun in an elongated path beyond Pluto. It could easily have a mass 10 times the planet Earth’s. Another shocking fact is that it takes 10 to 20 thousand years for it to orbit the Sun once. Astronomers are still on the lookout for this planet.

Credits: NASA

This object may not necessarily be a planet. Scientists have been detecting a gravitational disturbance in the Kuiper belt (an asteroid belt beyond Neptune) which suggests the existence of this celestial body. Moreover, the presence of this large celestial body could be an explanation of the unique orbits of five smaller objects discovered in the Kuiper Belt. 

The director of NASA's Planetary Science Division Jim Green stated that "This is not, however, the detection or discovery of a new planet. It's too early to say with certainty there's a so-called Planet X. What we're seeing is an early prediction based on modeling from limited observations. It's the start of a process that could lead to an exciting result."

This clearly explains the fact that no one is sure yet. This may even be a primordial black hole the size of a basketball. Primordial black holes can be as small as an atom but can still possess the mass of a mountain. These were formed soon after the big bang when radiation dominated the universe.

If this object is a black hole, then it may be a great discovery and can help us understand black holes in detail. It can a huge breakthrough in Astronomy because we still don’t know much about black holes but when you have one in your star system, it may help you answer questions that were asked for decades e.g. How does a black hole look like, what is inside the event horizon, are black holes a gateway to another universe, etc.