At the October 1999 academic event of the United States Astronomical Society, two distinguished astronomers announced a shocking discovery — their separate research teams claimed that another unknown planet had been unveiled in the vast solar system, and it was expected to become the tenth member of the solar system. This announcement immediately sparked extensive discussion and deep reflection in the astronomical community.
Back in 1543, Poland astronomer Copernicus's "heliocentric theory" subverted the traditional understanding of human beings about their position in the universe, and the earth was recognized as a planet in the solar system for the first time. In the following centuries, with the advancement of science and technology, especially the invention and application of telescopes, mankind has continuously expanded the boundaries of our understanding of the solar system. From the original six planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, to Uranus and Neptune discovered according to Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Newton's law of universal gravitation, to Pluto discovered by United States astronomer Tombo in 1930, the planetary family of the solar system has gradually grown to nine members.
However, the question of whether there are more unknown planets hidden in the solar system has been haunting the minds of explorers since ancient times. In the early days, Le Verrier speculated about the existence of underwater planets based on anomalies in Mercury's orbit, and although this hypothesis was eventually explained by general relativity, it did not completely extinguish the enthusiasm for exploring unknown planets. In particular, the vast expanse of space beyond Pluto has become a hot spot for astronomers searching for new planets.
It is against this backdrop that the two scientists claim to have discovered new planets outside Pluto that could be between 1.5 and 6 times more massive than Jupiter. They speculate that this mysterious planet is located in the Oort cloud, known as the "comet warehouse", about 0.5 light-years away, and its orbit around the Sun is not only significantly tilted to the known planets, but also moves in the opposite direction, completing an orbit only once every 4 million to 5 million years.
However, this discovery has also been met with a lot of skepticism. Skeptics have pointed out that if the mass of the object were to be so large, it would be bright enough to be captured by modern astronomical observations, but all attempts to date have failed to confirm its existence. Scientists have been conducting detailed observations and searches at the edge of the solar system using state-of-the-art ultra-large telescopes and the Pioneer series of space probes for decades, but unfortunately, the trail of the tenth planet remains a mystery.
Interestingly, even though the truth has not yet been revealed, people can't wait to reserve a poetic name for the potential tenth planet - "Blondie", which means a blonde woman with a beautiful vision of the unknown universe. Perhaps, with the launch of a new generation of infrared telescopes and the leap in technology, we will finally unveil the veil of this mysterious woman and see the true face of the tenth planet of the solar system.