Does Planet 9 Exist?

Veritasium
Veritasium
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Published 2019-09-13
A planet has been predicted to orbit the sun with a period of 10,000 years, a mass 5x that of Earth on a highly elliptical and inclined orbit. What evidence supports the existence of such a strange object at the edge of our solar system?

Huge thanks to:
Prof. Konstantin Batygin, Caltech
Prof. David Jewitt, UCLA

I had heard about Planet 9 for a long time but I wondered what sort of evidence could support the bold claim: a planet at the very limits of our ability to detect one, so far out that its period is over 60 times that of Neptune. The planet 9 hypothesis helps explain clustering of orbits of distant Kuiper belt objects. It also explains how some of these objects have highly inclined orbits - up to 90 degrees relative to the plane of the solar system. Some are orbiting in reverse. Plus their orbits are removed from the orbit of Neptune, the logical option for a body that could have ejected them out so far. The fact that the perihelion is so far out suggests another source of gravity was essential for their peculiar orbits.

Special Thanks to Patreon Supporters:
Alfred Wallace, Arjun Chakroborty, Bryan Baker, Chris Vargas, Chuck Lauer Vose, DALE HORNE, Donal Botkin, Eric Velazquez, halyoav, James Knight, Jasper Xin, Joar Wandborg, Kevin Beavers, kkm, Leah Howard, Lyvann Ferrusca, Michael Krugman, Mohammed Al Sahaf, Noel Braganza, Pindex, Ron Neal, Sam Lutfi, Stan Presolski, Tige Thorman

Music from epidemicsound.com/ "Observations - From Now On" "Magnified XY"
All Comments (21)
  • @gx2music
    “Who found the Kuiper belt?” “I did” Awesome answer.
  • @ancbi
    Can we take a moment to appriciate how much better the video has become by interviewing 2 experts with opposing views instead of just one of them?
  • @andreylevichev2872
    After binge watching the episodes from Veritasium today, I would call this the best one. Not because of the topic discussed. I really liked the idea of two scientists arguing their points of view. Optimistic vs skeptical. It really highlights how science is made. Please make more videos like this one.
  • @equilibrium_69
    The two scientists that were interviewed are the yin and yang sides of science: The curiosity and sheer will to learn and discover & The discipline of evidence and logic based verification of the truth of something.
  • @Matio25091
    "Can I go to the bathroom?" "That's a great question"
  • @FriedFreya
    “I found the Kuiper Belt.” Well earned flex, wish I had achievements like that!
  • @rabbit6872
    Dr Jewitt is a trip- I love how he doesn’t even put his coffee down for half of it, and how he has this “are you messing with me?” look when he asks who found the Kuiper Belt
  • @arkzbh
    One of the best videos on Veritasium. No prejudice, no taking sides, no trying to explain stuffs by Derek, just asking the right questions to 2 different people having completely different theories. Brilliant.
  • @markmiller6402
    Imagine having that on your CV. “ I found the Kuiper Belt”
  • @xFirebird925x
    "So who found the Kuiper Belt?" "I did. You know that." o__o
  • @hypehuman
    The visualization at 5:12 - 5:16 is so helpful; I'd never seen that before. The rotation and the zoom-out really give a good sense of the relative scales.
  • @devJ002
    When you have to discover a planet at 7 but be at a rock concert at 8.
  • @sidhantpatnaik3515
    -Who is responsible for finding the kuiper belt? -I found the kuiper belt. That's the real THUG LIFE!
  • @FlanTravolta
    Love this video. Would also love an updated video with the same two people now that it's been a few years.
  • @El-hj7ew
    Amazing interview. Not often can we see two scientist with different opinions in the same video. You can see passion of Professor Batygin when he is talking about something he love
  • @Joseph_S_Clark
    There is nothing cooler than saying “yeah I found the Kuiper belt”
  • @MarMar-415
    “If you’re that sure, find it” such a scientist way of putting it
  • @cosmicpsyops4529
    This is one of your most motivating videos to me. A practical problem and challenge in astrophysics with some classy competition. Awesome.
  • @Kebab136
    I'd actually continue the trend of naming them after Roman mythology and call planet 9 Proserpine. And it would make sense the same way all other planets were named. First of all, Proserpina was a wife of Pluto, and as we know Pluto isn'tn't a planet 8,5*. Proserpine was also a goddess of the underworld (spends its life in darkness, so does planet 9), and also a goddess of sprouting grain, and this would reference our sprouting knowledge about space and our own system. Proserpine was also actually Persephone but taken from Greek mythos, renamed, tweaked a little and set into Roman mythos, and Persephone (Proserpina) was kidnapped by Hades (Pluto). This last one would reference the facts that a)Pluto was supposed to be planet 9 but then the scientist said nah, and b) its even further away and it rarely visits the rest of the system.