We cant rule out a smaller, more remote world, such as the theoretical Planet 9 (or Planet 10 if you want to toss down over Pluto). The chances against such a world existing are relatively high, and a current study discovers it even less likely.
Lots of astronomers have questioned the existence of planets that may conceal at the edge of our solar system, especially when the power of our telescopes were relatively restricted. But as large sky studies began to scan the paradises they found absolutely nothing beyond asteroid-sized worlds. But the orbits of the worlds we did discover seemed to be clustered in a statistically odd way, as if they were being gravitationally annoyed by a larger object. If that were the case, this “Planet 9” would have a mass of about five Earths, and an orbital range of a few hundred to a thousand astronomical units. In other words, simply little sufficient and distant enough that it wouldnt be quickly seen in sky surveys.
World 9 would be too far-off to be seen by reflected light, so you d have to look for it by its faint infrared glow. Including to this is the truth that such a distant planet would orbit very slowly, such that within a single set of observations you would not discover it move at all.
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We cant rule out a smaller, more remote world, such as the theoretical Planet 9 (or Planet 10 if you desire to throw down over Pluto). The odds against such a planet existing are relatively high, and a recent study finds it even less most likely.
Numerous astronomers have actually questioned about the existence of worlds that may conceal at the edge of our solar system, especially when the power of our telescopes were relatively limited. World 9 would be too distant to be seen by reflected light, so you d have to look for it by its faint infrared glow. They assumed any distant planets would be fairly close to the equatorial plane, then combed through the information taking note of possible planets.
To try to find remote worlds, the group utilized two infrared sky surveys, one from the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and one from the AKARI Space Telescope. The 2 surveys were taken more than twenty years apart, providing any theoretical world plenty of time to move to a somewhat various part of the sky. They presumed any remote worlds would be fairly near the equatorial plane, then combed through the information remembering of prospective worlds.
A faint integrated flux nebula near Polaris. Credit: Kush Chandaria, CC BY-SA 4.0
Remarkably, they discovered more than 500 prospects. Based on the energy distribution of their spectra, many of these candidates had orbital distances less than 1,000 AU, and masses less than Neptune, which is precisely the variety expected for Planet 9. However you shouldnt get too thrilled. When the team looked at the infrared signatures by hand, they found none were that compelling. Most of them tended to be either within or near a faint integrated flux nebula, also referred to as stellar cirrus. They are diffuse clouds of interstellar gas that arent easily seen at noticeable wavelengths, however rather emit infrared light.
So it turns out these prospects arent planets, however rather the echoes of a faint nebula. Which practically dismisses Planet 9. Hopes of another planet lost in the clouds.
Recommendation: Sedgwick, Chris, and Stephen Serjeant. “Searching for huge worlds in the outer Solar System with far-infrared all-sky studies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.09985 (2022 ).
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