The clustered orbits of six distant worlds (purple) were invoked as evidence for Planet Nine (orange). But some think the clustering might just be an observational bias.
For planetary scientists, it was the boldest claim in a generation: an unseen extra planet, as much as 10 times the mass of Earth, lurking on the Solar System's frontier, beyond Neptune. But the claim looks increasingly shaky, after a team of astronomers reported last week that the orbits of a handful of distant lumps of rock are not bunched together by the gravity of Planet Nine, as its proponents believe, but only seem clustered because that's where telescopes happened to be looking.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Scientists discover backward star, spinning in the opposite direction to its planets - CNET
Artist's rendering of the exoplanetary system K2-290, showing the main star K2-290 A, its two planets, and the smaller companion star K2-290 B in the background.
In planetary systems, it's generally expected planets and their stars rotate in the same direction. Take our own solar system, for example.
There have been a few stars discovered that spin differently to a planet that orbits them, but a recent study has found one star rotating in the opposite direction to not one, but two planets in its system.
Take A Trip Through The Galaxy With Gustav Holst's 'The Planets' | Here & Now
Here & Now music opinionator Fran Hoepfner joins host Peter O'Dowd to discuss why Gustav Holst's "The Planets" is the perfect piece right now to explore places far, far away.
The seven-movement orchestral suite was inspired by astrology, written during World War I and premiered in the wake of a pandemic.
Yes, Pluto Is A Planet Says NASA Scientist At The Site Of Its Discovery 91 Years Ago This Week
Dwarf planets and moons, illustration. A dwarf planet is a planetary mass object orbiting the Sun ... [+] that is not a true planet. They are massive enough for their self-gravities to crush them into spheres, but they have not cleared the neighbourhood of other material around their orbits. Ceres, for example, shares its orbit with other asteroids. All the other dwarf planets so far known are found beyond Neptune, in a region of the Solar System full of debris called the Kuiper belt.
Not only is the IAU's definition of a planet 15 years ago roundly ignored by planetary scientists, but the IAU's use of a vote made science seem arbitrary and political, undermining trust in science itself.
And here's another article:
TESS Discovers Three Planets in Triple-Star System TOI-451 | Astronomy | Sci-News.com
Astronomers using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a trio of hot planets orbiting a much younger version of our Sun in the triple stellar system TOI-451.
This illustration sketches out the main features of the TOI-451 system. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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Also known as CD-38 1467, TIC 257605131 and Gaia DR2 4844691297067063424, the system is only 120 million years old.
The massive planet scientists can't find - BBC Future
The 19th-Century travel writer and businessman – fabulously wealthy, perennially moustachioed, and often found in crisp three-piece suits – had read a book on Mars, and on this basis, decided to become an astronomer. Over the coming decades, he made a number of wild claims.
Lowell also believed that the planet Venus had spokes – seen in his notes as spidery lines emanating from its centre (it doesn't). Though his assistants tried to find them, it seemed that only he could see this unexpected detail. It's now assumed that they were shadows cast from the irises in his own eyes , as he looked through his telescope.
How to spot Mars: See the red planet in the sky the day NASA's Perseverance rover lands
This means there are some great opportunities to see the planet travelling across the night skies, including just as the Perseverance rover is touching down. The day the rover lands, there will be a close approach of the moon and Mars—meaning they will appear next to each other in the night sky .
It's not every day you get to see a close approach while a rover makes its landing. Wrap up warm and look for the Moon and Mars together as, 200 million km (124 million miles) away, Perseverance lands.
A new planet next door? | Space | EarthSky
Astronomers have spotted "something" near Alpha Centauri A, in the star system nearest our Earth and sun. If it turns out to be a planet, it’ll be the first time a planet has been directly imaged within the habitable zone of a star.
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our sun. The inset image shows the two primary stars, A and B (a 3rd star, Proxima, lies some distance away). A new study shows that a planet might lie within the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri A. Images via Zdenek Bardon and NASA / CXC/ Univ. of Colorado/ T. Ayres et al.
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