Astronomers Seeking Planet 9 Hope To Soon Catch A Glimpse

[n2doc]

On the top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain Thursday, astronomers will point the large Subaru Telescope toward a patch of sky near the constellation of Orion, looking for an extremely faint object moving slowly through space.

If they find what they're looking for, it will be one of the most important astronomical discoveries in more than a century: a new planet in our solar system.

Technically, a new planet hasn't been discovered since Neptune was spotted in 1846. Pluto, discovered in 1930, was demoted to "dwarf planet" a decade ago. If a new planet is found, it will be the new Planet Nine.

Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., will be among the astronomers poring over the pictures taken by Subaru to see if one provides a glimpse of the planet.

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http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/29/507382675/astronomers-seeking-planet-9-hope-to-soon-catch-a-glimpse

[LongTomH]

1. 'Planet Nine' has tentatively been named Telisto by Lorenzo Iorio

http://www.democraticunderground.com/122846433

"The name I proposed comes from the Greek word ?ή?????? (télistos), meaning "farthest, most remote"
In my view, it is better suited than Planet Nine since it captures an essential feature of this hypothetical planet, i.e. its large distance from the Sun, which will not be changed by any further discovery about it (if it really exists, of course), and is independent of any classification schemes."

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Farthest, most remote so far

There's a good chance that much farther ones will be discovered.