The Vatican is known for lot of things, but not many people are aware of its world-renowned Vatican Observatory, home of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. That may change with the recent announcement of its discovery of a new trans-Neptunian not-quite-a-planet orbiting beyond Neptune which astronomers believe could help them locate the rumored Planet 9.
A source of speculation since the 19th Century, a new study may reignite the debate about a planet that could be lurking at the edge of our Solar System.
Stephen Hawking has been gone for three years this month, but he lives on in reruns of “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Simpsons” and “Futurama,” as well as in physics, cosmology and the many other fields his genius influenced. Now he has a chance to be famous in the far reaches of the solar system in a new(ish) but unproven theory that the mysterious Planet Nine exists, but not as a planet. Searching for Hawking radiation, some scientists think they can prove it’s actually a black hole using a high-speed spacecraft flyby. Could proving this convince the cast to reunite for one more “The Big Bang Theory” and toast Stephen Hawking?