Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about Planet X, with some using it to predict the
end of the world.
While these doomsday claims seem to be unwarranted, the idea of a 9th planet continues to be studied
by astronomers around the world.
What if this planet was found?
Let’s explore.
If you want more What If videos, check out our “Biggest What Ifs” playlist on the
channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if Planet X was Real?
There has been speculation for decades about the possibility of a mysterious Planet X,
an unknown planet that’s part of our solar system with a highly elongated orbit.
More recently, certain conspiracy theorists have been claiming it to be found, calling
it Nibiru, and claiming that it would crash into the Earth.
After several failed doomsday predictions, it seems this crash is not happening, but
that doesn’t mean no such planet exists.
Since the discovery of Neptune in 1846, scientists have been on the lookout for other possible
planets in the far reaches of our solar system.
Strange variations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune caused them to believe that there
could be another planet whose gravity could affect the orbit of these planets.
After the discovery of Pluto, it was determined that its gravity could not affect the other
planets, and the search continued.
However, the Voyager 2 spacecraft later learned that the supposed discrepancies in the orbit
of Uranus were due to an overestimation of Neptune’s mass.
More recently, however, certain anomalies in the outer solar system involving Kuiper
Belt objects (Kyper) have led scientists to believe there might be a Neptune-sized planet
in a huge orbit roughly 20 times farther from the sun than Neptune.
This 9th planet is currently just theoretical; we have no clear evidence pointing to its
existence.
But what if we found out that it does, in fact, exist?
First of all, what would this planet likely look like?
Well, nothing’s certain, but there are educated guesses we can make.
Based on the apparent effects of its gravity on the Kuiper belt objects, it’s estimated
that this planet would be roughly the same size as Neptune, with a radius of 13 to 26
thousand kilometres and a mass equivalent to roughly 10 Earths.
It would also take 10 to 20 thousand years to make a full orbit, so if you like birthdays,
you probably shouldn’t live on Planet X.
The gravity on the surface is difficult to predict; it could be very similar to that
of Earth, or it could be much stronger, making it very difficult to move.
Estimates ranging from 5.9 to 23.7 Neutons per kilogram.
However, this would be a rather moot point, because you’d likely freeze long before
you took your first step.
With an orbit 700 times further from the sun than Earth’s orbit, temperatures would be
far too low for us to survive.
Estimates vary somewhat as to the exact temperature, but some claim that it could drop as low as
-252 degrees Celsius, or 20.5 Kelvin.
This value would vary slightly depending on the atmosphere of the planet, but it would
certainly be extremely cold.
But if this planet existed, what would it mean to us?
Would we need to brace ourselves for Doomsday?
Probably not.
This planet is on an enormous orbit around the sun; the odds of it colliding with ours,
which is relatively close to the sun, are fairly slim.
On top of that, both planets have completed countless orbits in the last several billion
years without incident, so we can rest fairly easily for now.
Finally, when discussing new planets, one thought tends to jump to mind: could there
be aliens?
Well, while it’s true that there may be other intelligent life out there, it’s unlikely
that there’s intelligent life – or life of any kind – on Planet X.
Scientists have determined the coldest temperature at which organisms could reproduce on Earth
is -20 degrees Celsius, a far cry from the sub- negative 200 degrees expected on Planet
X.
It’s certainly possible that there would be forms of extraterrestrial life that CAN
thrive in such low temperatures, but the evidence available makes it seem unlikely.
If you want to see more about intelligent alien life, check out our video “What If
Another Advanced Species Existed?”
And now we return to our question: What if Planet X was Real?
Well, you definitely wouldn’t want to live there; it may have much more gravity than
earth, and would be extraordinarily cold.
On the bright side, it probably wouldn’t crash into us, so that should put some conspiracy
theorists at ease.
It’s unlikely that there would be life of any kind on this planet, but who knows?
Maybe they’d just have really thick snow pants.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know if you think Planet X is out there.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.