Help astronomers find our Solar System's 'ninth planet'
Rogue celestial bodies are hidden across our Solar System. While we know they're there, astronomers have struggled to exactly pinpoint their positions in space. Even with the wealth of data provided by infrared telescopic surveys, there simply aren't enough people to comb through every portion of the sky. Now, astronomers at the Australian National University have asked for amateur stargazers to join their search for the fabled ninth planet.
The
SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey is a project to make a digital map of the southern hemisphere, much as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) did for the northern hemisphere. This data has been compiled in the Zooniverse, an interactive reference guide to our Solar System. It contains hundreds of thousands of images of space, all recorded by a robotic telescope at the ANU's Siding Spring Observatory.
This data has been made available to the public, in the hopes of speeding up the search for Planet Nine, which is speculated to exist beyond Pluto. If someone does identify it, they will be granted the chance to help name the planet.
Astronomer
Percival Lowell first theorised a ninth planet in the 20th century. He speculated that disturbances in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune could be explained by the presence of a large planet further out in our solar system. This was originally thought to be Pluto, however, it proved too small to have caused these shifts. Since then, our technology has developed to a point that allows us to democratise the search for a ninth planet.
Read more:
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/planet-nine-australia-astronomy-infrared-star-map
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