Astrophysics Lectures - Planet Nine from Outer Space - Mike Brown - 03/15/2019

In the far reaches of the solar system lurks a planet 6 times bigger than Earth. Pluto-killer Mike Brown explains how he and his colleague Konstantin Batygin deduced its existence--and how they are looking for it. Timestamps below: 00:00 Announcements 03:40 Intro to Planet Nine Presentation 04:38 Planet Nine Presentation 39:25 Planet Nine Q&A 56:38 Q&A Panel Introductions 58:00 Q&A Panel 1:49:07 Concluding Remarks Date: March 15, 2019 Lecturer: Dr. Mike Brown Title: Planet Nine from Outer Space Abstract: While the occasional "Bring back Pluto!" t-shirt can still be found in the used-shirt bin at the store, most of the world has moved on after the raucous debates about the status of Pluto and its fellow dwarf planets. Astronomers, however, have been continuing to study the outer edges of the solar system to try to understand all that this region can tell us. One of the most startling revelations of the past decade is that there is strong evidence that there is a distant planet lurking in the distant solar system. This undiscovered object is estimated to be 5000 times more massive than Pluto, making it the true ninth planet of the solar system. I'll talk about the history of outer solar system discoveries, the evidence that led us to hypothesize the existence of this planet, and the prospects for directly spotting Planet Nine in — we hope — the very near future. Event Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143414768@N07/albums/72157707690340774 Echo360 Two-Pane Video Stream: https://echo360.org/section/df8345ec-7d0c-4dc3-b450-65a423c24650/public Thumbnail Image Credit: Tom Ruen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Nine#/media/File:Planet_nine_artistic_plain.png