If Planet Nine Exists, it Could be a 'Disaster' After the Sun Dies

The solar system could be thrown into disaster when the sun dies if the mysterious 'Planet Nine' exists, according to research from the University of Warwick.

Dr Dimitri Veras in the Department of Physics has discovered that the presence of Planet Nine - the hypothetical planet which may exist in the outer Solar System - could cause the elimination of at least one of the giant planets after the sun dies, hurling them out into interstellar space through a sort of 'pinball' effect.

When the sun starts to die in around seven billion years, it will blow away half of its own mass and inflate itself -- swallowing the Earth -- before fading into an ember known as a white dwarf. This mass ejection will push Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune out to what was assumed a safe distance.

However, Dr. Veras has discovered that the existence of Planet Nine could rewrite this happy end-ing. He found that Planet Nine might not be pushed out in the same way, and in fact might instead be thrust inward into a death dance with the solar system's four known giant planets -- most notably Uranus and Neptune. The most likely result is ejection from the solar system, forever.

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Potential Blackbody Radiation From Planet Nine

Blackbody Radiation from Isolated Neptunes

Authors:

Ginzburg et al

Abstract:

Recent analyses of the orbits of some Kuiper Belt objects hypothesize the presence of an undiscovered Neptune-size planet at a very large separation from the Sun. The energy budget of Neptunes on such distant orbits is dominated by the internal heat released by their cooling rather than solar irradiation (making them effectively "isolated"). The blackbody radiation that these planets emit as they cool may provide the means for their detection. Here we use an analytical toy model to study the cooling and radiation of isolated Neptunes. This model can translate a detection (or a null detection) to a constraint on the size and composition of the hypothesized "Planet Nine". Specifically, the thick gas atmosphere of Neptune-like planets serves as an insulating blanket which slows down their cooling. Therefore, a measurement of the blackbody temperature, Teff∼50K, at which a Neptune emits can be used to estimate the mass of its atmosphere, Matm. Explicitly, we find the relation Teff∝M1/12atm. Despite this weak relation, a measurement of the flux at the Wien tail can constrain the atmospheric mass, at least to within a factor of a few, and provide useful limits to possible formation scenarios of these planets. Finally, we constrain the size and composition of Planet Nine by combining our model with the null results of recent all-sky surveys.

End of all Things #1: a Mass Extinction Aggregation Post

Ediacaran/Cambrian Extinction:

Were the Ediacaran's wiped out, in part and the Cambrian Explosion initiated by greatly increased UV radiation?

Permian Triassic Mass Extinction:

The Permian Triassic boundary has been geochronologically located in the Spanish Pyrenees and produced an interesting and diverse fauna from the early Triassic.

The early Triassic locales of the Persian Gulf show evidence of repeated and sustained conditions like during the mass extinction itself.

Cretaceous-Paleogene (KT) Mass Extinction:

Another extraordinary claim that the KT/K-Pg mass extinction was caused by dark matter has been made.

Sixth Mass Extinction:

The carbon dates in North America appear to match well with the Human Overkill Hypothesis for the reason why the megafauna (mammoths, sloths, dire wolves, etc) went extinct.

What were the implications of the loss of large Pleistocene carnivores on the ecosystem?

Or for that matter for the impact of the loss of ALL the missing megafauna on the ecosystem?  Or more specifically on the forests?  Was the impact uniform or variable on the ecosystems of North and South America?

What were the changes on the nutrient cycle with the extinctions taking place?

Or!  Gasp!  The lack of mammoths farts on the atmosphere?

Or in the sea coast, what about the impacts of the extinction of the stellar's sea cow?

The data strongly supports the extinction of Australia's giant bird, Genyornis, as being caused by humans.

In fact, multiple sources of data suggest humanity was the cause of the extinctions in the Sahul (greater Australia).

META:

The proposed planet 9, proposed by Caltech astronomers, is unlikely to have anything to do with the mass extinctions on Earth.  Even so, if it pans out, for historical reasons, I hope they name the new planet 'Nemesis.'

Luhman Using WISE Kills Nemesis and Periodicity (by proxy)

A SEARCH FOR A DISTANT COMPANION TO THE SUN WITH THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER

Author:

K. L. Luhman

Abstract:

I have used multi-epoch astrometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to perform a search for a distant companion to the Sun via its parallactic motion. I have not found an object of this kind down to W2 = 14.5. This limit corresponds to analogs of Saturn and Jupiter at 28,000 and 82,000 AU, respectively, according to models of the Jovian planets by Fortney and coworkers. Models of brown dwarfs by Burrows and coworkers predict fainter fluxes at a given mass for the age of the solar system, producing a closer distance limit of 26,000 AU for a Jupiter-mass brown dwarf. These constraints exclude most combinations of mass and separation at which a solar companion has been suggested to exist by various studies over the years.