New dwarf planet spotted at the edge of the solar system
New Scientist1 day
Astronomers: Distant Object Identified as Potential Dwarf Planet
Above: Artist rendering of the proposed Planet Nine, an unconfirmed object that would explain a number of unusual orbits of trans-Neptunian bodies, created on July 19, 2015. Image copyright: Tobias Roetsch/Contributor/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
This discovery seriously undermines the "Planet Nine hypothesis" that's been floating around for years. Computer simulations show that if Planet Nine actually existed, it would gravitationally kick 2017 OF201 right out of the solar system within just 100 million years — but here it is, stable in its orbit. The object's trajectory doesn't follow the neat clustering pattern that supposedly proves Planet Nine's gravitational influence, making it a major outlier that the theory simply can't explain.
Narrative B
The clustering of extreme trans-Neptunian objects in specific orientations remains compelling evidence that a massive ninth planet lurks in the outer solar system, gravitationally shepherding these distant bodies into their observed patterns. Six known Kuiper Belt objects have elliptical orbits pointing in the same direction, and many orbit opposite to everything else in the solar system — clear signs of a nearby planet's gravitational pull that can't be easily dismissed by one anomalous object.