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Beyond Neptune are some fascinating celestial bodies left over from the formation of our solar system. Could any of them be truly spectacular?
This image shows an illustration of the hypothetical Planet Nine: a planet believed to be more massive than Earth, but hundreds of times further away from the Sun than our own world.
Key learning points
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It was about a decade ago that astronomers noticed strange behavior in some objects in the outer solar system that seemed to point to a large gravitational mass very far away: a possible Planet Nine.
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Since that time, much more data has been collected and many searches have been conducted, direct and indirect, for evidence that would support or refute the existence of Planet Nine.
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Although a few leading astronomers still argue for its existence, the full suite of data from the Kuiper Belt (and beyond) no longer requires a Planet Nine. Searches, meanwhile, are complicated by a new addition: mega-constellations of satellites. Listen and discover more.
One of the most quickly forgotten revolutions in all of science is our understanding of the solar system beyond Neptune. Although Pluto was discovered almost a full century ago, it wasn’t until the early 1990s that we even discovered the next object beyond Neptune that wasn’t part of the Plutonian system. And yet in the thirty years that have passed since we have learned so much more about the structure of the Kuiper Belt and beyond, we also face enormous challenges in the quest to learn more thanks to an unwanted intruder: the rise of satellite mega-constellations .
Although the original team of Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin continues to argue for a new, massive, undiscovered world located hundreds of times the Earth-Sun distance, they are largely alone as other scientists have considered and no evidence here provided. hypothetical world. Still, more science needs to be done to know for sure, and in the meantime, the rise of satellite mega-constellations like Starlink now poses an existential threat to all kinds of endeavors, including planetary astronomy.
Here to guide us through the current status of the hunt for Planet Nine, as well as the new obstacles facing astronomers, I am so pleased to welcome Prof. Sam Lawler to the show. Sam is a professor at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is also known for her advocacy in favor of dark and silent skies for all humanity to enjoy and benefit from. It’s a fascinating discussion that has taken me to unexpected places, and I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it!
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