Experts didn't hesitate when they decided to demote Pluto and reclassify it as a "dwarf planet", a detail that officially removed it from the "list of nine" in the Solar System. However, for a long time there has been speculation about the existence of other larger planets, with much wider orbits. The new wave of evidence comes from the famous Caltech institute, and if its existence is confirmed, this "Planet X" would complete a solar orbit every 15 thousand years.
The New Horizons mission changed forever the way we see Pluto, but at the same time it reminded us of something fundamental: we still know very little about our Solar System. The "simple" fact of reaching Pluto with an appropriate probe required nine and a half years, not to mention the extraordinary work of everyone involved. With that in mind, the question arises: What lies beyond Pluto in our system? Could there be hidden worlds, waiting to be discovered? According to the latest announcement from Caltech, that possibility is much greater than we imagined.
Some call this theoretical celestial body "Planet X", but at Caltech they preferred "Planet 9". The search for this planet has fallen several times into the speculative and conspiratorial, so it's natural to take any statement with a grain of salt. The difference is that astronomers seem to have much more solid data. The estimated location of Planet X was calculated from the orbit of six previously identified objects. These objects appear to be "clustered", something that has only a 0.007 percent chance of happening naturally. The experts' conclusion is that a planet with ten times the mass of Earth is responsible for this peculiar clustering.
If so, Planet X would have an extraordinary orbit, to the point that on average it would take 15 thousand years to complete one full turn around the Sun. Such a number makes the orbits of all "inner" planets in the Solar System pale in comparison. The next step is, logically, to obtain more information. For this, the Subaru telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located in the state of Hawaii, will be used. Time? Five years... and even then it will be a very complicated task. By comparison, Pluto could be ten thousand times brighter than this mysterious body. One thing is certain: if it is there, it will be a complete planet, without strange changes in its designation.
