Astronomers may have identified the first compelling evidence for Planet Nine.

Analysis of two decades-old infrared sky surveys (IRAS 1983 and AKARI 2006) has revealed a faint object whose movement suggests an orbit roughly 700 AU from the Sun – about 65 billion miles. Based on its infrared signature, this object could be larger than Neptune and take millennia to complete one orbit.

The Planet Nine hypothesis emerged in 2016 to explain peculiar orbits of distant icy bodies beyond Neptune, hinting at a massive, undiscovered world. This new candidate is significant because it appears in both independent datasets, a first for such objects.

While unconfirmed, the discovery is promising. Astronomers plan follow-up observations using powerful telescopes like the Dark Energy Camera in Chile. If verified as Planet Nine, it could revolutionize our understanding of the solar system’s formation and history – perhaps ejected from near the gas giants or captured from another star. Upcoming observatories like Vera C. Rubin and Nancy Grace Roman significantly increase the chances of definitively finding this hidden world soon.