Back in January, Caltech's Konstantin Batygin, an assistant professor of planetary science, and Mike Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy, announced they had found evidence of "Planet Nine," a huge, icy planet estimated to be ten times more massive than Earth.
Below, Batygin and Brown discuss the research that provides evidence of a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system, in a video published by Caltech from January.
The researchers, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, discovered the planet's existence through mathematical modeling and computer simulations but have not yet observed the object directly.
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"Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we become increasingly convinced that it is out there," says Batygin, an assistant professor of planetary science. "For the first time in over 150 years, there is solid evidence that the solar system's planetary census is incomplete."
By March scientists found more evidence of the existence of "Planet Nine," as well as detailing methods to find it.
While most scientists and researchers are excited over this discovery, astrophysicist Daniel Whitmire, formerly of the University of Louisiana, believes it was a mysterious planet that caused an Extinction Level Event (E.L.E.) millions of years ago and could do it again, with some claiming it could happen any day now.
Artist’s rendering of what the sky might look like from Planet 9. Image: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Planet Nine — a new planet discovered at the edge of the solar system in January — has triggered comet showers that bomb the Earth’s surface, killing all life, says Daniel Whitmire, of the University of Louisiana.
The astrophysicist says the planet has a 20,000-year orbit around the sun and, at its closest to us, it knocks asteroids and comets toward Earth.
Fossil evidence has suggested most life on Earth is mysteriously wiped out every 26 million to 27 million years.
Whitmire claims Planet Nine’s passage through a rock-laden area called the Kuiper Belt is responsible for the “extinction events.”
In 1985 Professor Whitmire and his colleague Dr. John Matese published a paper regarding the much talked about "Planet X" also referred to by some as "Nibiru," raising the possibility that it was responsible for mass extinction events. (Source - Yibada and Heavy.com)
Whitmire first published research on the idea of connecting Planet X to mass extinctions in 1985 in the journal Nature. He and colleague John Matese published the idea while working as astrophysicists with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Their research was even published on the cover of Time. The title of the then-shocking article was: “Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? A Bold New Theory About Mass Extinctions.” His theory is supported by a fossil record that points to comet showers happening every 26 to 27 million years.
There are contrasting opinions on whether "Planet Nine" fits the parameters of Whitemire's Planet X theories.
Video below description - NASA’s Director of Planetary Science, Jim Green, discusses the Jan. 20 Astronomical Journal science paper that points to the possibility of a new “Planet 9” in our solar system beyond Pluto, examining the scientific process and inviting you to have a front row seat to our exploration of the solar system.
