Tag: Planet Nine
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NASA selects potential small-scale astrophysics missions, Hubble measures exoplanet’s odd orbit
The Hubble Space Telescope has successfully measured the highly eccentric and distant orbit of an exoplanet circling a double star system 336 light years from Earth. The new exoplanet information is potentially important much closer to home as scientists search for the proposed Planet Nine in our solar system. Meanwhile, NASA has selected four small…
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Farout! Astronomers identify the most distant known object in our solar system
An artist’s conception shows the distant object known as 2018 VG18 or “Farout.” (Carnegie Institution for Science Illustration / Roberto Molar Candanosa) Astronomers say they’ve discovered the most distant body ever observed in our solar system, a potential dwarf planet that’s about 11 billion miles from the sun. Its nickname? “Farout.” The far-out object —…
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Search for Planet Nine turns up a way-out dwarf planet that’s called ‘The Goblin’
The International Space Station leaves a streak above the Subaru Telescope in a long-exposure image. Observations using the Subaru Telescope led to the discovery of the mini-world known as The Goblin. (Subaru Telescope / NAOJ Photo / Hideaki Fujiwara) While searching for a hypothetical Planet Nine, astronomers found a distant mini-world that’s been given a…
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Discoveries boost Jupiter’s retinue to 79 moons — including a wrong-way oddball
The oddball Jovian moon, known as Valetudo, crosses the orbits of moons that move in the opposite direction. Click on the image for a larger version. (Carnegie Institution of Science / Roberto Molar Candanosa) Astronomers searching for signs of a hypothetical “Planet Nine” have instead come up with 12 new moons of Jupiter, including one…
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Scientists say there may be yet another unseen planet at solar system’s edge
An artist’s conception shows a hypothesized planet orbiting off the main plane of the solar system. The depicted orbits and planetary sizes are not shown to scale. (UA / LPL Illustration / Heather Roper) Astronomers say they’ve found hints that an unseen planetary-mass object may lurk in the outer reaches of our solar system. And…
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Looking for Planet 9 and other far-out objects? Finally, NASA has an app for that
An artist’s conception shows Planet X, a.k.a. Planet Nine. (Carnegie Institution / Robin Dienel) Citizen scientists can join an online hunt for icy worlds, brown dwarfs and other yet-to-be-discovered objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, using a technique that’s not all that different from the method that led to Pluto’s discovery 87 years ago. “Backyard Worlds:…
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Astronomers are seeing more signs of undiscovered Planet Nine’s influence
An artist’s conception shows Planet Nine with the sun in the far background. (Credit: R. Hurt / IPAC / Caltech) Astronomers haven’t yet seen Planet Nine, the theoretical world that some say lies far beyond Pluto’s orbit, but they’re seeing more phenomena that could be explained by its existence. Today, astronomers laid out evidence that the…
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Hunt for Planet Nine leads to mini-worlds
An artist’s conception shows Planet X, a.k.a. Planet Nine. (Credit: Robin Dienel / Carnegie Inst.) The hypothetical world known as Planet X or Planet Nine hasn’t yet been found, but thanks to the search, astronomers have discovered smaller worlds on the solar system’s edge. Mapping such objects could lead to the big discovery: a planet that’s thought to…
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‘Planet Nine’? Astronomers boost the case for a large, unseen Planet X
An artist’s conception shows a “super-Earth” planet far from the sun. (Credit: R. Hurt / IPAC / Caltech) For decades, astronomers have gone back and forth over whether a “Planet X” exists on the edge of our solar system – and now two researchers have laid out new evidence supporting the claim, including a rough idea…