The Growing Case for an Elusive Ninth Planet

Astronomy has really wreaked some havoc on science textbooks over the years, particularly when it comes to cataloging the solar system. For most of the 20th century, there were nine planets, taught to schoolchildren with the help of quirky mnemonics like My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Then, in 2006, the Pizzas were dropped; a set of astronomers determined that Pluto was better classified as a dwarf planet than as a full-fledged one. And now, after more than a decade of relative peace, astronomers wish to add a new ninth planet, upending humanity’s understanding of our solar system, not to mention the current school curriculum.

For the past several years, some astronomers have been in our cosmic neighborhood. The thing is, they’ve never seen it. They have only observed evidence that it may be out there: a cluster of small celestial bodies that move in unusual orbits compared with the rest of the solar system. This configuration, astronomers say, suggests these objects were jostled by a powerful unseen force: a huge planet, about 10 times the mass of Earth, orbiting in the fringes of the solar system, well beyond Pluto.