Existence of Planet Nine - A Primordial Black Hole

Introduction

Our solar system is a star system consisting of our sun as star and eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, comets, and asteroids bounded together by gravity and orbiting around the sun in their respective orbital paths. The eight planets we discovered are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is considered a dwarf planet as it does not qualify the required criteria put forth by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Is There A Planet Nine?

Many debates and contradictions are going on regarding the existence of planet nine. Pluto when discovered in 1930 was considered as the planet nine for a considerable period before IAU ruled out its planetary status and termed it as a dwarf planet. So, is there a planet that is hiding from us in the outer Kuiper belt beyond Pluto? For the past years, different space agencies are expanding the frontiers of their space exploration by exploring the deep unexplored regions of the solar system. Parker solar probe sent to study the sun and Voyager 1 and 2 sent to explore the interstellar space outside the heliosphere. In 2015, scientists have discovered an unusual activity in the Kuiper belt. Kuiper belt is an icy cluster of dwarf planets including Pluto and millions of asteroids stretching from the edge of Neptune into outer space. It’s been observed that the dwarf planets and other objects in the Kuiper belt follow a certain orbital path around a mysterious hidden object. The plane of their orbit is tilted downwards by a 30-degree angle indicating that the object is massive enough to become a planet. Scientists had been calling the planet as Planet X or planet nine. But it’s not officially discovered as it is not visible through our telescopes and its hiding in the dark. So there is a possibility that it might be a tiny primordial black hole.

What Is A Primordial Blackhole?

Primordial black holes are the types of black holes that are formed during the budding phase of Universe formation. High-density cosmic gas and dust under extreme temperature and pressure collapse on itself under the effect of strong gravity and forms primordial back holes. These black holes have masses less than a solar mass and the size of about a few centimeters.

Is Planet Nine A Primordial Blackhole?

The hidden planet nine has a significant effect on the dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt by wobbling their space-time curvature and creating a pancake type of orbital motion. So it is estimated that this object has mass ten times that of Earth. Furthermore this planet is invisible to the telescopes indicating that this object could be a primordial black hole with the size of a fist formed at the early stages of solar system formation 4.5 billion years ago. This black hole has created a small tilt in the plane of motion of planets around the sun in the due course of 4.5 billion years. If it is proved to be a black hole then it can wobble the space-time of our solar system in millions of years into the future.

How to Detect the Blackhole in Our Solar System?

Primordial black holes are theoretical black holes that have not been officially discovered. So it would be a challenge to detect these things. This blackhole is located at a distance of 500AU from the Earth. It cannot be observed or detected using our telescopes. So, scientists have come up with an idea of shooting thousands of nano spacecraft, each weighing less than a gram to the Kuiper belt using a high-speed laser beam. So, the spacecraft would be sitting on the edge of the laser beam and it can reach the speed of 1 or 2% of light. So the distance of 500AU can be covered in around 10 years. The spacecraft has to reach the nearest AU to the blackhole to detect it. This model is still in the developmental phase. Gravitational microlensing experiments carried out also indicated some promising facts. Gravitational microlensing is a concept in which a body of high gravitational potential like black holes and neutron stars when comes in alignment with a distant stars thousands of lightyears away, they can bend the light coming from the stars and thus acts as a lens. Gravitational microlensing experiments carried out in the distant Kuiper belt also provided a glimpse of star 26000 light-years away indicating that there would be a black hole with 10 times mass of Earth. But these are merely indications and assumptions. Nothing is practically proven yet.

Conclusion

It would be a breakthrough in Astronomy if that invisible object in the Kuiper belt is a primordial blackhole dancing within our reach in our solar system and it will help us to unveil the mysteries of black holes and can carry out a lot of experimental researches on theoretical primordial black holes and the formation of the Universe. If it is a planet like our Earth, then we can add an extra planet to our list.