Planet X is a hypothetical planet beyond Neptune that has been searched for by astronomers. Pluto and Eris were found during the search, but are now classified as dwarf planets. The existence of Planet X was posited to explain mathematical discrepancies in the orbits of Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. However, the Voyager 2 spacecraft gave more accurate measurements of Neptune, and probes sent into space did not suggest the strong gravitational pull of a Planet X. Some scientists still speculate about the possible existence of a brown dwarf, but it may never be found. Planet X appears in science fiction as the tenth planet or a hypothetical huge planet.
Planet X (pronounced like the letter, not the Roman numeral) is a hypothetical planet that has been searched for over the years by many astronomers. While searching for this planet, astronomers “found” Pluto and Xena or Eris, all now classified as dwarf planets and not considered true planets. Planet X was not usually considered the tenth planet because when the search began, astronomy experts had discovered only eight. Instead the name simply means an unknown planet that exists beyond Neptune.
Neptune was identified as a planet because astronomers found quirks in the orbits of Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn, which many believed must be caused by a planet still the father of earth and the sun. Some of the mathematical discrepancies in the orbits of these planets, and in Neptune itself, indicated the presence of another planet besides Neptune. When Pluto was discovered in 1930, it wasn’t big enough to explain the orbital patterns of all four planets; so science has been looking for something beyond Pluto, perhaps a gas giant as big as Jupiter.
For most of the 20th century, astronomers continued to posit the existence of Planet X, and they tried very hard to find it. In the 1990s, one of the arguments against the existence of such a planet was that the probes sent into space had not moved in such a way as to suggest the strong gravitational pull of a Planet X. Another contribution to the disappearance of the Planet theory X. is that the Voyager 2 spacecraft gave more accurate measurements of Neptune, which explained the mathematical irregularities in its orbit.
There are some scientists who still speculate about the possible existence of a Planet X, but they have reinvented the concept of what the planet might look like. Some suggest a brown dwarf and not a planet. Other astronomers such as Patryk Lykawka have made calculations that suggest we will definitely determine by 2013 whether such a planet exists.
The hypothetical additional planet has captured the imagination of many and appears in numerous science fiction films, TV shows and books. Robert Heinlein’s novel The Puppet Masters suggests ten planets in the solar system, the last one called Kalki. Animated characters like Duck Dodgers and some of the Transformers refer to Planet X. Fictional renderings of the planet can refer to the tenth planet or the hypothetical huge planet that we don’t have yet, and may never find, because it doesn’t exist.
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