Planet Nine hypothesis
Hipótesis del Planeta Nueve
- Date
- 2016 · confidence high
- Place
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California, United States
- Credited to
- Konstantin Batygin, Michael E. Brown
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
From the clustered orbits of six extreme trans-Neptunian objects, Batygin and Brown mathematically proposed a massive, still unobserved ninth planet to explain that alignment.
Still without direct observation: it is a prediction, not a confirmed detection; several astronomers favour alternative explanations for the orbital clustering.
What it led to
- Wide-field telescope surveys searching for it
- Debate over undiscovered planets in the outer solar system