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| · | Intro |
| 0:04 | · | SHATNER: On the campus of |
| 0:06 | · | the California Institute of Technology |
| 0:09 | · | a group of experts led by astronomer Mike Brown |
| 0:13 | · | is puzzling over some strange data |
| 0:16 | · | from outer space |
| 0:17 | · | that they can't explain. |
| 0:21 | · | BROWN: A few years ago, |
| · | The Unseen Planet |
| 0:22 | · | a colleague of mine and I, |
| 0:23 | · | Konstantin Batygin, he and I were looking at |
| 0:26 | · | the orbits of the most distant objects in our solar system. |
| 0:32 | · | This vast collection of objects |
| 0:33 | · | is very much like the asteroid belt, |
| 0:36 | · | but just an icier version further away. |
| 0:41 | · | They're out in the same region where Pluto is, |
| 0:43 | · | well past Neptune. |
| 0:45 | · | And we realized that the ones that go |
| 0:48 | · | the furthest away from the sun |
| 0:49 | · | all have their orbits pointing off in one direction. |
| 0:54 | · | These guys all go off far away, |
| 0:56 | · | and it shouldn't be that way. |
| 0:58 | · | Unless there's something pulling them with gravity, |
| 1:01 | · | it shouldn't happen. |
| 1:04 | · | So, Konstantin and I tried to figure out what's going on, |
| 1:06 | · | and we made jokes to each other |
| 1:08 | · | that, like, "Well, it could be a planet, but that's dumb. |
| 1:11 | · | "We know it's not a planet, |
| 1:12 | · | "because we know there are |
| 1:14 | · | no other planets in our solar system." |
| 1:16 | · | SHATNER: The idea that there's an undiscovered planet |
| 1:20 | · | in our solar system that could potentially be |
| 1:22 | · | a place where life has formed, |
| 1:24 | · | sounds too incredible to believe. |
| 1:28 | · | But on the other hand, |
| 1:29 | · | Mike Brown still couldn't figure out why |
| 1:34 | · | objects in space were being pulled in a strange direction. |
| 1:38 | · | BROWN: We spent about two years trying to figure out |
| 1:41 | · | what else could be causing these things |
| 1:43 | · | to be pulled off in this direction, |
| 1:45 | · | and we couldn't figure out what it could be. |
| 1:48 | · | We realized, "Actually, this planet just |
| 1:51 | · | is the only thing that actually makes sense." |
| 1:55 | · | We started doing calculations, simulations. |
| 1:57 | · | We realized, actually, |
| 1:59 | · | if you put a planet out here that's pulling these things way, |
| 2:03 | · | it not only explains these objects, |
| 2:04 | · | but it explains half a dozen other things that have been |
| 2:08 | · | happening in the solar system. |
| 2:10 | · | So, I am really quite convinced |
| 2:12 | · | that there is a giant planet |
| 2:15 | · | still to be found out there at the edge of the solar system. |
| 2:20 | · | SHATNER: In February of 2019, |
| 2:22 | · | Mike and his colleagues published a groundbreaking paper |
| 2:26 | · | in which they proposed that there could be |
| 2:28 | · | an unseen planet hiding in our solar system, |
| 2:32 | · | which they have dubbed Planet Nine. |
| 2:36 | · | Their intriguing theory made headlines, |
| 2:38 | · | because for hundreds of years, |
| 2:39 | · | humanity has believed that |
| 2:41 | · | there were only eight planets in the solar system, |
| 2:44 | · | not including Pluto, |
| 2:46 | · | which is considered a smaller "dwarf planet." |
| 2:49 | · | So, how could there be an undiscovered planet |
| 2:53 | · | in our corner of the universe |
| 2:56 | · | that we're only now finding out about? |
| 3:00 | · | Right now, we think, based on our computer simulations, |
| 3:04 | · | that Planet Nine is |
| 3:05 | · | about seven times |
| 3:08 | · | more massive than the Earth. |
| 3:11 | · | And it's 600 times further |
| 3:13 | · | than the Earth is from the Sun. |
| 3:16 | · | And so it's way out there. |
| 3:20 | · | FRANK: Planet Nine, if it exists, |
| · | How Could It Exist |
| 3:22 | · | it's so far away, |
| 3:23 | · | out there in the deep, deep dark, |
| 3:25 | · | that it's just very difficult to detect. |
| 3:28 | · | You are so far out in the solar system |
| 3:31 | · | when you get to these kinds of distances, |
| 3:33 | · | that the sun is barely distinguishable. |
| 3:36 | · | There's just not a lot of light out there. |
| 3:39 | · | But really, it's exciting, because, |
| 3:41 | · | even though we can't see the planet, |
| 3:44 | · | it's just almost impossible to not to wonder |
| 3:47 | · | what is happening out there. |
| 3:50 | · | SHATNER: If scientists are able to prove that there is, in fact, |
| 3:54 | · | a planet hiding in the darkness of our solar system, |
| 3:58 | · | it would raise an even more pressing question. |
| 4:01 | · | Could there actually be life |
| 4:04 | · | on this mystery planet? |
| 4:07 | · | BROWN: Planet Nine is a really important place |
| 4:10 | · | to look for life. |
| 4:12 | · | Right now, scientists are very strongly focused on |
| 4:15 | · | figuring out whether there's just single celled |
| 4:18 | · | microbial life on Planet Nine. |
| 4:22 | · | Here is the interesting thing about Planet Nine |
| 4:24 | · | when it comes to life. |
| 4:26 | · | It's possible that if Planet Nine exists, |
| 4:29 | · | that it was much closer in the solar system earlier on. |
| 4:32 | · | And if it had a rocky surface, |
| 4:35 | · | and if it was in the places where liquid water could exist, |
| 4:39 | · | then maybe it did form microbial life. |
| 4:43 | · | And then maybe, somehow, it got |
| 4:45 | · | kicked out farther out from there. |
| 4:50 | · | BROWN: One of the things that |
| 4:51 | · | we don't know about Planet Nine is |
| 4:54 | · | why do we have this planet so far away? |
| 4:57 | · | I think the most likely hypothesis |
| 5:00 | · | is that, as it was going around the sun, |
| 5:02 | · | it got too close. |
| 5:05 | · | And as you get too close, you get a, basically, |
| 5:07 | · | a gravitational slingshot, and you go whizzing out |
| 5:09 | · | to the outer part of the solar system. |
| 5:12 | · | And it's been out there basically lurking around, |
| 5:16 | · | waiting for us to find it ever since then. |
