Urdu Report Desk
Scientists searching for the mysterious ninth planet of the Solar System have made a potentially significant breakthrough after identifying a possible candidate in infrared data.
Software initially identified 13 possible pairs of infrared sources. After further examination, only one candidate remained. Over 23 years, the object appears to have moved 47.5 arcminutes across the sky, about one and a half times the width of the full Moon.
The object also appears consistent with what a Neptune-sized planet in the distant Solar System might look like, making it a possible first observational indication of the proposed ninth planet.
Discovery Led by Taiwanese Researcher
The discovery was made by Terry Long Phan of Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University during his PhD research, in collaboration with colleagues from Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
Some researchers have suggested that the arrangement and orbital inclinations of certain trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, point to the possible presence of a planet that has yet to be discovered.
A Distant and Unconfirmed World
Calculations suggest that the potential planet could have an elliptical orbit of about 300 astronomical units (AU), placing it at least 10 times farther from the Sun than Neptune.
Despite several astronomical survey efforts, the existence of the planet remains unconfirmed.
One major challenge is its extreme distance. Light would have to travel from the Sun to the planet and then back toward Earth, making a Neptune-sized planet at such a distance around 10,000 times fainter than Neptune.
Infrared Data May Hold the Key
Another challenge is the uncertainty surrounding the object’s orbit, meaning researchers do not know exactly where telescopes should be pointed to find it.
However, the planet’s thermal emission would reach Earth from only one direction. In the infrared spectrum, the potential ninth planet would be about 100 times fainter rather than 10,000 times fainter compared with visible-light observations.
This makes infrared space telescopes a potentially important tool in the search.
Data From Two Infrared Surveys
In his research, Phan analyzed observational data from two infrared surveys: IRAS, launched in 1983, and AKARI, launched in 2006. The observations were separated by 23 years.
At a distance of more than 300 AU, a planet would move so slowly that it could appear stationary within any individual dataset. However, it would have shifted slightly between the two missions.
Phan’s software examined the infrared sources and retained only those that had moved by approximately the amount expected for a distant planet.
