50 MINUTES AGO: Leaked NASA Files Reveal Nibiru Is in the Solar System

[00:00:00]For thousands of years, people knew [music] only about the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which they could see using simple telescopes or even by the naked eye if conditions were good. But, in the late [music] 18th century, a famous astronomer named Sir William Herschel discovered a new planet that [music] was icy blue in color. At first, people thought it was a star, but later they realized it was a planet.

[00:00:26]Today, we know it as Uranus, a planet [music] that's more than 19 times farther away from the Sun than Earth.

[00:00:33]It's so far away that it takes Uranus 84 years [music] to complete one trip around the Sun.

[00:00:41]This astronomer also discovered many other interesting things in [music] space like double stars and nebulae. In the mid-1800s, scientists noticed something pulled Uranus and strangely [music] tugged its orbit. They thought there must be another planet out there, and they used math to predict where it would be.

[00:01:00]Finally, in 1846, [music] they found Neptune using a telescope. It was too faint [music] to see with the naked eye because it was too far away from the Sun.

[00:01:12]It was all [music] so exciting. Who knows how many other planets could be there lurking in the [music] darkness of our solar system?

[00:01:19]Back in the mid-1800s, astronomers noticed something unusual was happening in the sky. A small rocky planet [music] named Mercury was behaving strangely. It didn't follow the predictable orbits [music] that was expected of it. One of the astronomers was a brilliant French scientist [music] named Urbain Le Verrier. He came up with a theory that there could be another planet in our solar system no one had yet discovered.

[00:01:45]It would be located [music] somewhere between Mercury and the Sun. This hypothetical planet, which he named Vulcan after [music] the Roman god of fire, would have an incredibly hot surface. And it could [music] be a potential explanation for Mercury's strange behavior.

[00:02:01]He never surely claimed Vulcan was really the [music] one thing disturbing the orbit of Mercury, but excited by the possibility of discovering a new planet, astronomers all over the world took the idea of Vulcan. For a planet that didn't exist, people committed to developing ideas and getting information about it.

[00:02:22]Some scientists didn't think it was likely that they had missed another planet as big as Mercury. It would have been hard not to see it by then.

[00:02:30]But there was a tiny chance of a smaller planet existing inside Mercury's orbit that was too close to the sun, so no one could see it. One theory [music] said it was about 13 million miles away from the sun.

[00:02:44]Mercury is the planet with the most eccentric [music] orbit in our solar system, but the closest point it gets to the sun [music] is about 28.5 million miles. This means Vulcan would be under half of that distance. The theory moved on saying [music] that if Vulcan existed, it would orbit the sun every 19 days and 18 hours, and its path would be tilted [music] about 12° relative to the path of other planets in our solar system.

[00:03:12]Vulcan's position at its furthest point from the sun would still be too close to the sun to be seen with the naked eye, even during twilight. The only chance of seeing Vulcan would be during a solar eclipse [music] or when it passed the sun, which as the theory said would be two to four times a year.

[00:03:32]They had a theory that this mysterious planet was so close to the sun that it could only be seen during a total solar eclipse when the moon blocked out the sun's blinding glare. So, every time there was an eclipse, scientists [music] would peer at the sun hoping to catch a glimpse of Vulcan.

[00:03:49]They were trying really hard, but no matter what, they couldn't find this mysterious planet. Some astronomers claimed to have spotted it during eclipses, but no one could ever confirm [music] or find evidence for that.

[00:04:02]The theory of Vulcan was left waiting for some better times.

[00:04:07]Einstein had a different idea. You know about his theory of general relativity, right? That's where he claimed gravity wasn't some sort of natural force, [music] but a result of space-time curved because of the presence of giant space objects like planets and stars.

[00:04:24]Planets circle around the Sun in their usual orbit because space-time is curved. That means the planets are kind of falling towards the central star of our solar system.

[00:04:37]And Einstein tried to explain Mercury's unusual orbit [music] using his own theory of relativity. Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Mercury's orbit wasn't that circular. Instead, it seemed to wobble slightly as if there was an invisible force [music] pulling it away.

[00:04:57]Einstein said this could be happening because the massive gravity of our Sun was actually curving the fabric of space-time around it. He claimed it's possible this changed Mercury's orbit a little bit. It took the scientific community a while to test this theory, but it eventually seemed like the most plausible explanation.

[00:05:18]Even though Einstein's [music] theory gave us a more elegant explanation for Mercury's strange orbit, some scientists were still holding out hope for Vulcan.

[00:05:27]It was especially hard to let go of the idea of Vulcan because Mercury is also the planet that's really hard to see from where we're standing. But later, more and more scientists started accepting Einstein's theory above their imagination.

[00:05:42]And they would observe a total solar eclipse specifically [music] to test Einstein's theory of relativity, not because of Vulcan.

[00:05:50]And Vulcan [music] is not the only hypothetical planet everyone was talking about. In the newer age, some believe there could be a mysterious planet lurking in the outer part of our solar system. But this one is more likely [music] to exist. No one has seen it directly yet, but computer simulations show this so-called Planet Nine or Planet X is probably somewhere there beyond Neptune. [music] Neptune and Planet X could be similar in size. Planet X could be 10 times more massive than Earth and circles around our Sun in an elongated shape, which is on average 20 times [music] farther from the Sun than Neptune.

[00:06:30]A year there may last between [music] 10,000 to 20,000 Earth years. By comparison, a year on Neptune lasts 165 Earth years.

[00:06:42]Something this big moving out there beyond Neptune could explain the unusual orbits [music] of smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt.

[00:06:50]The Kuiper Belt is the area of our solar system [music] beyond Neptune and where it orbits.

[00:06:55]And there are most likely many asteroids, [music] comets, and some other smaller bodies there, mostly made of ice.

[00:07:03]There was another hypothetical planet called Nibiru. Remember those rumors that the world could [music] end back in 2012? One of the popular scenarios was Nibiru, which some claimed would hit our home planet at the end of the year. Of course, nothing happened. We're still here, all safe and good, but the idea of Nibiru seemed interesting.

[00:07:25]Stories started in the 1970s when a man named Zecharia Sitchin mentioned Nibiru in his book The 12th Planet, claiming it orbits the Sun every 3,600 years.

[00:07:37]>> [music] >> But there's no chance a planet with such an eccentric orbit wouldn't disrupt other planets in our solar system with its gravity. And if it was really [music] coming that close to Earth in 2012, we were supposed to be able to see it with the naked eye.

[00:07:53]Some simple calculations showed Nibiru would have been nearly as bright as Mars [music] at its dimmest and brighter than the faintest stars you see from a city.

[00:08:02]Oh, well, maybe we'll have more luck in the next 3,500 and something [music] years.

[00:08:08]In 2011, a comet named Elenin appeared that many people thought could be Nibiru. But when you're looking at comets and planets through [music] a telescope, you see they appear differently. A comet has a coma, [music] which is a gas atmosphere, together with a tail, something a planet doesn't have.

[00:08:29]Plus, this comet [music] didn't slam into the Earth. It came too close to our sun and fell apart.

[00:08:36]>> [music] >> The leftover pieces will continue moving on their way to the outer solar system for the next 12,000 [music] years.

[00:08:46]>> Attention Earthlings. Yes, that would include you. Scientists have discovered a new member of the solar system. We officially have a new dwarf planet orbiting well beyond Neptune. But that's not all. Despite being small and unremarkable, this object called 2017 OF201, I know, it's a goofy name, might hold the key information about the speculated existence of Planet Nine. Or better said, it spoils the fun because instead of helping us find Planet Nine, it could be the first tangible evidence that the theoretical ninth major planet was just that, a theory.

[00:09:25]But first, what exactly are dwarf planets? And why is this discovery so important?

[00:09:31]Well, in the early 21st century, researchers gained better telescopes and began discovering smaller, weirder celestial objects. It started with Eris in 2003, but the discovery of additional similar bodies led to Pluto losing its status as a {quote} true planet.

[00:09:49]To probably carry the name of a planet, a space rock must check off three boxes.

[00:09:54]It must orbit the sun, not another planet like a moon would. It must be massive enough for its gravity to make it round. And it needs to be gravitationally dominant in its orbit.

[00:10:06]In other words, an object should be able to clear out most other objects in its path by absorbing them, slinging them away, or influencing them in some other way. Like paying them off. Hey, just kidding.

[00:10:19]Imagine a giant, powerful truck driving in its own lane, pushing smaller cars aside. Hey, sounds like my commute.

[00:10:26]Although Pluto is orbiting the sun and has the needed elliptical appearance, it's in the Kuiper Belt, a region full of icy objects. Because it can't clear its [music] orbit, researchers realized that Pluto was not that different from many other similar bodies known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs. There are well over 5,000 known TNOs out there, with only a thousand being officially numbered, meaning they've been studied enough to have their orbits confirmed. Now, here's where it gets interesting. A while ago, scientists noted a pattern. Many of these minor planets shared similar paths and tilts.

[00:11:04]This inspired a theory that those objects were influenced by some still undiscovered Planet Nine, also known as Planet X. The proposed super-Earth would have a mass five to 10 times greater than Earth's. It would orbit far on the outskirts, possibly as far as 500 astronomical units, and like an invisible puppeteer, manipulate the orbits of TNOs with its gravity.

[00:11:29]Some of these [music] objects get classified as extreme trans-Neptunian objects. Let's just call them ETNOs for short.

[00:11:36]ETNOs are minor planets with an average distance of at least 150 astronomical units from the Sun.

[00:11:44]They have eccentric orbits, which can't be explained by the gravity of Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, or Jupiter.

[00:11:50]This led some scientists to conclude that Planet X must be out there. Ooh.

[00:11:56]As the years went by and more and more TNOs were discovered, scientists began to notice that those newly found objects didn't follow the previously established patterns.

[00:12:07]Many TNOs and ETNOs discovered in the last 5 to 6 years didn't match the same orbital parameters. Of the 6,000 objects found orbiting beyond 30 AU from the Sun, many show no signs of being influenced by hidden planet.

[00:12:23]Well, despite that, scientists still hesitate to admit that Planet X is just wishful thinking. Not only is discovering something new exciting, but a planet like that could also protect us by pulling in asteroids from deep space.

[00:12:37]It could help explain why our solar system looks so different from many others, where super-Earths and mini-Neptunes are common.

[00:12:45]It might even solve how the solar system was formed, how objects got scattered, >> [music] >> and what's still hiding in the dark.

[00:12:53]Discovering Planet Nine wouldn't just be cool. It could reshape everything we know about the solar system.

[00:12:59]However, with the discovery of 2017 OF201, actually, that's still a mouthful. Let's call it Ophy from now on. With the discovery of Ophy, the whole Planet Nine theory seems to be on its last legs. So, what makes Ophy so special? And how does it affect the idea behind Planet Nine?

[00:13:19]The newly discovered member of our solar system is estimated to be about 430 miles in diameter.

[00:13:26]This places it the dwarf planet category. Certainly larger than many other trans-Neptunian objects, but still about 1/3 the size of Pluto. [music] What stands out most is its elongated orbit around the Sun. It takes [music] at least 25,000 years to complete one revolution. Its orbit brings it [music] as close as about 45 astronomical units from the Sun, which is similar to Pluto's distance, >> [music] >> and extends out as far as 1,600 AU at its most distant [music] point. This means it travels far beyond the Kuiper Belt and approaches the inner boundary of the Oort Cloud.

[00:14:03]This orbit is not just extremely long, it's also highly eccentric, stretched out like a long oval. This puts it in a rare group of objects that travel to the most distant [music] parts of our solar system.

[00:14:15]While there are objects with longer orbital periods, like comets that originate from the Oort Cloud, they're much smaller than this newly discovered dwarf planet.

[00:14:25]But despite its relatively large size for such a distant object, Orpheus nearly undetectable. It spends most of its time hidden from Earth's view, far from the inner solar system, and too faint for current telescopes to spot.

[00:14:39]In fact, astronomers estimate [music] it's only visible for about 1% of its 25,000 year orbit. In fact, this new dwarf planet came closest to the Sun in 1930, the same year Pluto was [music] discovered. Yet, it slipped away unnoticed.

[00:14:56]Nobody spotted it back then, and it only got discovered in May 2025, completely by accident. By digging through archived data from publicly available telescopes, researchers pieced together its location from 19 separate images taken over 7 years. That's impressive detective work.

[00:15:16]So, what does all of this mean for Planet X? The archive photos have revealed that this object's orbit does not match any of the orbital clustering previously used to support the Planet Nine hypothesis. It doesn't belong to the same group as other ETNOs, and more importantly, if a hidden planet is really tugging on celestial bodies, Orpheus should have been flung out of the solar system millions of years ago.

[00:15:42]If Planet Nine was where we speculated and had the predicted mass, then Orpheus' current orbit wouldn't last. It would likely be altered or even destroyed within about 100 million years. However, its orbit appears stable and undisturbed, suggesting it has been like this for far longer.

[00:16:01]But wait, you exclaim. If the mysterious orbit of Orpheus is not caused by an invisible giant planet, what else could it be?

[00:16:09]Well, space is full of surprises, and gravity isn't exclusive to planets.

[00:16:15]One idea is that the orbit has been stretched over time by galactic tides.

[00:16:20]Just like the moon pulls on Earth's oceans, the Milky Way galaxy itself pulls ever so gently on everything in the solar system. It's a slow, steady force, but if you're far out enough, like Orpheus is, even that gentle tug can twist your orbit over millions of years.

[00:16:38]Now, another possible explanation could be that a passing star may have come to our solar system a long time ago, especially during its formation.

[00:16:48]Back when the sun was young and surrounded by newborn stars, one could have passed close enough to give some outer objects a gravitational nudge.

[00:16:57]That kind of flyby could have easily yanked an icy object into a stretched-out, tilted orbit.

[00:17:03]The third idea is that such unusual orbits are leftovers from the early solar system, when planets and debris were being flung all over the place.

[00:17:13]Some may have ended up in stable, but extreme orbits, like Orpheus the dwarf planet.

[00:17:18]If something really is pulling on these distant objects from outside our solar system, something like the galaxy itself, then we lack models to explain it. It's remarkable that we've managed to spot Orpheus in the first place.

[00:17:31]These objects only appear when close to the Sun, so we've likely seen just a fraction of what's out there.

[00:17:38]There could be hundreds or even thousands of similar rocks, all with strange orbits and [music] mysterious origins. Which means the real mystery might not be a hidden planet, but the hidden world of space rocks quietly orbiting in the dark waiting to be found.

[00:17:56]>> Have you heard about Planet Nine?

[00:17:59]No, not Pluto. We're talking about something lurking on the outskirts of the solar system.

[00:18:05]A mysterious planet that exists in our solar system that we haven't yet discovered.

[00:18:12]We've been looking for it for years, but finally, it seems like scientists found a key to solve this mystery.

[00:18:21]Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet.

[00:18:23]Astronomers have been on the hunt for it for quite some time now.

[00:18:27]But it's so elusive that they've only been able to piece together a few details about its potential characteristics.

[00:18:36]One thing we do know is that Planet Nine has to be a massive world. Possibly up to 10 times the mass of Earth.

[00:18:44]That's one big planet. It's also thought to be a distant wanderer, hanging out somewhere between Neptune and Pluto.

[00:18:53]Some scientists think that Planet Nine might actually be a mini Neptune >> [music] >> with a thick gaseous atmosphere and a rocky core.

[00:19:03]Others speculate that it could be an icy world with a solid frozen surface and a thick layer of hydrogen and helium gas.

[00:19:13]Of course, since we haven't actually found Planet Nine yet, we can't say for sure what it's like.

[00:19:20]We're not even sure that it even exists.

[00:19:22]Some say it's just a myth, like the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny, but others are convinced that it's out there somewhere.

[00:19:30]And at the end of the day, we're not entirely sure if Planet Nine is even a planet. It might be a special kind of black hole or made entirely of dark matter.

[00:19:42]The search for Planet [music] Nine began in the early 21st century when a group of astronomers realized [music] that something wasn't quite right with the outer reaches of our solar system.

[00:19:53]They noticed [music] that some distant objects, known as trans-Neptunian objects, were behaving in unexpected ways.

[00:20:01]Trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, are like the cosmic version of those items in the back of your fridge that you forgot about for years.

[00:20:09]>> [music] >> They're small, icy bodies that hang out in the Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune.

[00:20:16]So, scientists noticed that these guys started behaving weirdly. At first, they thought it might be a fluke.

[00:20:24]But, as they dug deeper, they began to suspect that there was a ninth planet lurking out there.

[00:20:31]Why haven't we discovered it yet, you ask? Well, it may be because of Planet Nine's weird orbit.

[00:20:38]All the other eight planets orbit the Sun in roughly the same plane, which is like a flat disk. However, our hypothetical friend's orbit is [music] different. It might be tilted and move in a different direction compared to the other planets.

[00:20:54]Its orbit might also [music] be stretched out like an oval, rather than being nearly circular like usual.

[00:21:01]Because of this, Planet Nine might spend most of its time far from the Sun, like a true introvert. It only comes relatively close to the inner solar system every few thousand years.

[00:21:14]This would make it super faint and hard to spot. So, the only way we may discover it is by studying the gravitational effects it has on our solar system.

[00:21:25]And this isn't the first time astronomers have gone looking for a new planet. [music] Back in the 19th century, there was a similar hunt for a hypothetical Planet X.

[00:21:36]But this time, they were armed with much better [music] technology and a much better sense of humor.

[00:21:42]They began calling their elusive quarry Planet Nine, which was much catchier than Planet X. They even came up with a hashtag for the search, Pluto lives.

[00:21:54]It was a reference to the fact that Pluto had been kicked from the planet gang, and some astronomers were eager to find a new planet to take [music] its place.

[00:22:03]But the search for Planet Nine has been no easy task. It's like trying to find a lost sock in the laundry basket the size of a football stadium.

[00:22:13]It's so far away and so faint that even the most powerful telescopes can't see it. Instead, astronomers have had to rely on indirect evidence, like the strange orbits of TNOs, to try to figure out where it might be.

[00:22:29]Some scientists have even supposed that it might be a wandering rogue planet, which would explain why it's so hard to find.

[00:22:37]But they haven't given up hope. Till this day, they're scouring the skies using all sorts of high-tech telescopes [music] and fancy algorithms to try and spot this elusive planet.

[00:22:49]And fear not, dear curious human, because it looks like after so many years of research, we may have finally found the key to solve this mystery.

[00:23:00]Astronomer Man Hoi Chan from Hong Kong [music] has a theory.

[00:23:05]He believes that Planet Nine could have a bevy of moons.

[00:23:09]That's right. Not only is it a giant planet hiding out in the depths of space, but it's also a bit of a hoarder.

[00:23:18]Moons are all the rage in the outer solar system. In fact, almost every planet here has at least one moon, [music] except for Mercury and Venus.

[00:23:26]Earth has just one, which is kind of sad if you think about it.

[00:23:30]Even non-planetary bodies like Pluto have at least a couple of moons. A bit unfair, isn't it?

[00:23:37]Anyway, taking this into account, let's go moon picking with Planet Nine.

[00:23:42]The region between the rock-filled Kuiper Belt and the rock-filled Oort Cloud, where this planet is predicted to be, should be ripe for the picking.

[00:23:51]Chan made some calculations and determined that it would be stranger if the elusive planet didn't have any satellites.

[00:23:59]According to his calculations, an object the mass of Planet Nine should capture at least 20 TNOs as large as almost 90 miles across.

[00:24:09]It's like our mysterious planet is playing cosmic Pokémon with these guys.

[00:24:13]So, >> [music] >> what if Planet Nine has moons?

[00:24:16]Would that make any difference? Kind of yes. They could give us some indirect clues to finally locate this mysterious [music] planet.

[00:24:26]Now, you might be thinking, "How in the cosmos can we possibly spot these teeny, tiny moons?"

[00:24:32]It's not like they're going to wave a giant flag or blast some Beyoncé tunes to get our attention. Well, apparently the key lies in something called tidal heating.

[00:24:43]Tidal heating might sound like a new workout trend, but it's a real scientific phenomenon.

[00:24:49]It happens when two celestial bodies are close together. You see, tides aren't just about the rise and fall of the ocean. they're also the result of gravity pulling unevenly on a planet or moon.

[00:25:02]When a planet and a moon are close enough to each other, their gravity pulls on each other, creating a bit of a football shape. [music] And as these celestial bodies move around each other, they shift shape and generate friction inside, which produces heat.

[00:25:19]Wow, who knew that Planet Nine could have a workout [music] routine? Perhaps we should start calling it gym planet instead.

[00:25:28]Anyway, if Planet Nine [music] has any moons, the gravitational pull from these moons would cause it to change shape constantly, generating heat in the process.

[00:25:38]And we might be able to detect [music] this mysterious planet through the heat produced by those moons, even though it gives off no other [music] signals.

[00:25:47]Now, before you get too excited, finding them won't be a walk in the park.

[00:25:51]They're incredibly small and would be very [music] far away from us. But hey, nothing worth discovering ever came easy, right?

[00:25:59]Scientists are optimistic that with [music] the right technology, they can spot this telltale sign.

[00:26:05]It will be easier for us to spot them with fancy instruments like modern telescopes. Talk about cool friends to have, right?

[00:26:13]Sure, the process of finding [music] it may be difficult and time-consuming, but the potential payoff is huge. Finding this planet [music] could explain a lot of the strange behavior observed in TNOs, the [music] Kuiper Belt, and beyond.

[00:26:28]As we've already mentioned, they've been acting super weird lately, tilting and aligning in suspicious ways.

[00:26:35]If this planet doesn't [music] actually exist, we have yet to explain what is the reason for this strange behavior.

[00:26:43]In any case, the search for Planet Nine is one of the most exciting [music] and intriguing quests in modern astronomy.

[00:26:50]It's like a cosmic scavenger [music] hunt, and everyone's invited to join in on the fun. So, grab your telescopes and let's go planet [music] hunting. Who knows? Maybe we'll find it sooner than we think.

[00:27:04]So, we might be getting closer to finding a massive icy planet beyond Neptune's orbit. Yeah, sorry Pluto, still not you. Recently, some universe mapping using data from a telescope in Hawaii eliminated about 78% of the possible locations for this mysterious Waldo from space.

[00:27:23]Some people call it Planet Nine, while others prefer Planet X. Either way, it's been causing controversy since its existence was first proposed, and that is mainly because no study so far can answer the big question, does it really exist? If discovered, Planet Nine would rank as the fifth largest planet in our solar system with a mass 10 times that of Earth. It's also theorized to be gaseous, like Uranus.

[00:27:51]The initial study on Planet Nine, dating back to 2016, suggests that this colossal new planet orbits the Sun 29 times farther out than Neptune, which sits at about 2.8 billion miles. As a result, the Planet Nine would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete a single orbit around the Sun.

[00:28:13]If confirmed, this yet-to-be-understood world would dominate a region larger than any other known planet in our cosmic neighborhood.

[00:28:22]These are all intriguing hypotheses, but without a single piece of evidence or observation to back them up.

[00:28:29]Before dismissing this as a wild guess, it is important to note that these researchers relied on complex mathematical modeling and computer simulations to speculate about the planet's characteristics, cuz that's what they do.

[00:28:43]The hypothetical presence of this planet would explain various mysterious features located beyond Neptune.

[00:28:50]We are specifically talking about the Kuiper Belt, a huge donut-shaped region filled with icy debris left over [music] from the formation of the solar system, including comets and dwarf planets like Pluto.

[00:29:03]What happens is that the six farthest objects in the Kuiper Belt exhibit elliptical orbits [music] that are all oriented in a similar direction within physical space and tilted approximately 30° downward relative to the orbital plane of our eight known planets.

[00:29:19]What's strange here is that despite [music] their distinct orbital velocities around the solar system, they maintain this alignment. The likelihood of such alignment occurring randomly is extremely low, around 0.007%.

[00:29:35]So, here comes Planet Nine, a hypothetical massive celestial body that offers a plausible explanation for this strange phenomenon, potentially exerting gravitational influence to shape these orbits.

[00:29:50]The initial theory didn't hold up for long, facing accusations of observational bias and calculation errors. Then, in 2017, another study popped up, sparking back the idea that maybe Planet Nine is out there after all.

[00:30:06]This time, Spanish astronomers tried a novel approach, focusing on observing extreme trans-Neptunian objects. These celestial bodies orbit the Sun in highly stretched elliptical paths with average distances exceeding 13 billion miles.

[00:30:22]The research suggests that the distances between these objects' nodes and the Sun might provide clues to Planet Nine's location.

[00:30:30]You see, these nodes are the points where a celestial body's orbit intersects the solar system's plane.

[00:30:36]When these objects reach these points, they're more likely to interact with other solar system bodies, potentially causing significant changes in their orbits or even collisions. So, if the trajectory of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects remains stable, everything's fine. But, if it's not, well, that's a sign that something else, something big, is messing with their path. And that's exactly what the research found. There is something unseen out there throwing these objects off course. And that something could be a planet chilling at a distance between 300 to 400 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

[00:31:16]To this day, the study of the extreme trans-Neptunian objects is the strongest evidence we've got for Planet Nine's existence. And if you're still not convinced by this theory, know that strange motions like these have led to planetary discoveries before. Neptune, for instance, [music] was spotted because Uranus's motion didn't quite agree with the predictions of Newtonian gravity.

[00:31:40]But, the deflection of its orbit could be explained if it was caused by a pull of an undiscovered planet. And just like that, we discovered Neptune.

[00:31:51]Now, the year is 2021, and there's all this buzz about Planet Nine again. After correcting some old guesses, studies are now leaning towards the idea that this [music] mystery world follows an epic loop around the Sun every 7,000 years.

[00:32:07]That is massive news because it means this planet might be closer than we ever thought, making it easier for our telescopes to spot it. The paper also suggests there is a whopping 99% chance that the funky orbits of these distant objects are all because of this unseen planet, not just some cosmic coincidence. Now, the odds of this whole situation being a fluke are down to a one in 250 chance, which is much better than the one in 10,000 chance back in 2016.

[00:32:40]All these optimistic numbers have brought us to where we are today, keeping our hopes and working on better equipment to continue the mission of spotting Planet Nine. As mentioned earlier, researchers in Hawaii created some kind [music] of treasure map utilizing the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response [music] System to eliminate 78% of its locations. This is great news considering how challenging it is to find a planet-size needle [music] in a cosmic haystack. But, unfortunately, Planet Nine's presence remains a ghost in the dark outer [music] reaches of our solar system.

[00:33:17]Enthusiasts are still convinced of its existence and believe it is only a matter of time before we celebrate the discovery of Earth's new cosmic cousin.

[00:33:26]They're putting their hopes on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is currently under construction in Chile, and is scheduled to begin science operations in late 2025.

[00:33:36]Over the course of 10 years, this observatory will scan the entire southern hemisphere sky every few nights with a 27-ft fast-moving telescope equipped with the largest digital camera in the world. The idea is to catalog everything in the solar system, reaching out to and beyond Neptune, and tracking the movements of millions of celestial objects, including space junk, asteroids, comets, and stars. If Planet Nine is indeed out there, this next-generation telescope could be the one to find [music] it.

[00:34:11]The existence of this mysterious planet is far from being universally accepted in the scientific community. That is simply because Planet Nine isn't the only explanation for the strange phenomenon occurring beyond Neptune.

[00:34:25]One theory suggests that a group of distant objects, such as dwarf planets, comets, and moons, might be collectively [music] influencing the orbits of the extreme trans-Neptunian objects.

[00:34:36]Others believe that a black hole is behind all this. These compressed masses are some of the densest objects in the universe, >> [music] >> potentially capable of affecting the orbits of other masses, like how this supposed ghost planet [music] nine is believed to be doing.

[00:34:53]Another bold [music] perspective suggests that our current understanding of the laws of gravity is flawed, actually incomplete.

[00:35:00]This theory, [music] known as modified Newtonian dynamics, proposes that these distant icy objects exhibit strange behavior not due to influence from another planet, but rather because the immense gravitational field of the Milky Way is influencing them.

[00:35:17]However, even supporters of this theory acknowledge that it is too early to draw firm conclusions, and much more extensive research is still required.

[00:35:28]While we continue our relentless hunt for planet nine, some astronomers have taken it a step further, suggesting the existence of a hypothetical planet 10.

[00:35:38]This world has a mass and size like that of Mars or Earth, and is located on the edges of the Kuiper Belt.

[00:35:45]But, the thing is, if this alleged planet 10 is indeed as small as scientists believe, it might not have enough gravity to clear its orbit of debris. And that is pretty similar to what happens with Pluto, being one of the reasons why it got into trouble back in 2006.

[00:36:02]So, yeah, it's better not to get too excited. This supposed planet 10 might end up classified as another dwarf planet.

[00:36:11]Now, if Earth were the size of a nickel, Neptune would be about as big as a baseball. That's impressive, but it's nothing compared to [music] the giant ninth planet that might be hiding out there.

[00:36:23]Now, our planet nine's discovery [music] saga might have finally come to an end.

[00:36:27]Turns out, the problem wasn't where we were looking, but how. And researchers might have just made the biggest solar system discovery in decades.

[00:36:36]You see, the idea of finding a planet beyond Neptune has been around for years now. I know, back [music] in school, you probably learned that the ninth planet was Pluto. But, forget about Pluto. It's been demoted to a less fancy [music] category since 2006. What I'm talking about is the Planet Nine, a hypothetical giant planet that could be our [music] cosmic neighbor. We've never actually seen it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there somewhere, hiding in the outer solar [music] system.

[00:37:07]To explain why they think that, we need a sheet of paper. Hey, here's one. We place a coin on it, and suddenly it starts to move. Unless we're talking about some kind of superpower, there's no way this coin is moving on its own, right? So, you figure someone must be on the other side, holding a magnet and moving it around. You can't see the magnet, but it explains why the coin is moving. That's kind of what's happening with Planet Nine. We can't see it, we can't prove it, yet, but its existence could explain the strange movements we see out there in space. [music] For example, the planets in our solar system orbit on a flat plane that's tilted about 6° relative to the [music] sun. But, why 6°? Well, no one really knows for sure. Some scientists think those orbits might be slightly tilted because of the pull of a ninth planet.

[00:37:59][music] Its existence could also explain the unusual paths of smaller objects in the distant [music] Kuiper Belt, a region full of icy debris that stretches far beyond Neptune's orbit.

[00:38:11]Back in 2016, researchers from Caltech [music] published a study about Planet Nine. They suggested it could have a mass [music] about 10 times that of Earth and follow a highly elongated path. It's a scientific way of saying it takes forever to make one trip around the sun. Because of that, it would be located in the outer solar system. I mean, far, far away.

[00:38:34]>> [music] >> It would orbit the sun about 20 to 30 times farther out than our most distant planet, Neptune.

[00:38:40]According to [music] scientists, Planet Nine would take up to 20,000 Earth years to complete just one full orbit around the sun.

[00:38:48]Since it's crazy far out there, it's almost impossible to see it. So, as cool as this hypothesis sounds, we've never found solid evidence that Planet Nine actually exists. But, we might be pretty close.

[00:39:02]>> [music] >> In May 2025, a team at National Tsing Hua University might have made one of the most exciting solar system discoveries ever.

[00:39:11]All right, so there's a hypothesis that Planet Nine hasn't been discovered yet because we haven't been using the right method. [music] This new study raises an interesting question. What if Planet Nine actually [music] looks brighter in infrared light than it does in visible light?

[00:39:27]Let me explain. Scientists have been trying to spot Planet Nine by its reflected light.

[00:39:32]>> [music] >> But, here's the problem. To spot it in visible wavelengths, sunlight would have to travel all the way out to Planet Nine, >> [music] >> bounce off its surface, and then travel all the way back to Earth. If a Neptune-sized planet were about 10 times farther away than Neptune, it would look about 10,000 times fainter.

[00:39:51]But, a planet's own thermal radiation, I mean, its heat, only has to make a one-way trip. So, in infrared light, Planet Nine would only be about 100 times fainter. That's why it makes more sense to look for it using space-based [music] infrared telescopes. And that's the idea behind this new study. [music] The team started digging through archives, searching for old infrared sky survey data, and they pulled it from two main sources. First, IRAS, a satellite launched in the '80s that scanned the sky for almost a year. Then, the Japanese satellite Akari, another infrared observatory that operated between 2006 and 2011.

[00:40:31]So, basically, they compared objects that showed up in IRAS database and noticed which ones had moved by the time Akari took its observations. And by doing that, the researchers found something incredible, an object that might just be our long-lost ninth planet. [music] Because if something moves, it could be a planet orbiting the Sun, right? And yeah, they did find some celestial objects showing tiny movements. But before jumping to conclusions, they had to rule out the parallax effect. And that's something really important when we're talking about solar system discoveries. [music] To explain it, I need you to do something. Hold one finger in front of your face. Close one eye, and now switch. Your finger seems to move a tiny bit, right? That's because you're looking at it from a slightly different angle, from one eyeball to the other.

[00:41:21]>> [music] >> The same thing happens when we look out into space from Earth. Since our planet orbits the Sun, our view of very distant objects shifts just a little.

[00:41:31]That effect is called parallax. My point is, because of this effect, Planet Nine would appear to move across the sky as Earth goes around the Sun. On any given day, it might seem to be in one spot, but 6 months later, when Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun, it would look like it shifted. 6 months after that, it would seem to move back again.

[00:41:54]Scientists had to account for parallax.

[00:41:56]Actually, they had to remove its effects. So, the team looked at images of the sky taken on the same date every year. Because on that same date, Earth is always in the same spot [music] in its orbit. That means if Planet Nine is real, it would show up in the same place in those images every year. No fake wiggle from parallax, just its real position.

[00:42:18]This careful search led them to a single object, a tiny dot in the infrared data.

[00:42:24]This strange little spot have moved slightly along its orbit around the sun over the 23 years between Iris and Akari. Wait, could that be it?

[00:42:34]>> [music] >> Did astronomers just confirm a hidden planet? Well, maybe, but don't get too excited. [music] The data we have on its motion over that time is not enough to figure out its full orbit. So, for now, we still can't say for sure if this mysterious object is really Planet Nine.

[00:42:53]It's definitely a strong [music] candidate though. Based on how bright the object appears, the team estimates it could be pretty massive, and that came as a big surprise.

[00:43:03]You see, previous NASA research ruled out any Jupiter-sized or Saturn-sized planets hiding out there. But a smaller world would have gone undetected. So, the scientists were looking for something just a bit bigger than Earth.

[00:43:17]But it turns out this mysterious planet might be [music] more massive than Neptune.

[00:43:22]Now that they've discovered Planet Nine, supposedly at least, the plan is to keep tracking it and collecting new data. But don't think the road ahead will be easy.

[00:43:31]Because since the Akari satellite spotted it for the first time, that object didn't just sit still. It's been moving slowly through space ever since.

[00:43:40]So now, scientists need to use regular telescopes on Earth to look for it again. And here's the tricky part.

[00:43:47]They're not exactly sure where it moved to. So, they have to search a pretty big patch of the sky. And so far, no matching object has been found.

[00:43:56]Whether this really turns out to be the Planet Nine discovery or not, only time will tell. For now, [music] its existence is still up for debate. But with powerful new technology on the way, like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, astronomers are more determined than ever to uncover the truth. And if Planet Nine really is out there, hiding in the cold, dark edges of our solar system, it's running out of places to hide.

[00:44:24]>> Look at this giant donut-shaped region far away from Earth, beyond the orbit of Neptune. We're talking about a distance of more than 2.5 billion miles. It's the Kuiper Belt, and something eerie and bizarre is happening there.

[00:44:40]Dwarf planets and other small objects dwelling there refuse to cluster together. Instead, they follow particular orbits, [music] which is weird. The reason might be a large, mysterious planet hiding beyond Pluto. Its gravity might be messing up the orbits of those Kuiper space bodies.

[00:45:02]Hear me out.

[00:45:03]Our solar system is made up of the sun and everything that goes around it because of the star's strong gravity.

[00:45:10]This includes the eight main planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

[00:45:18]There are also smaller things, like moons, asteroids, and Pluto.

[00:45:23]For a long time, people thought Pluto was the ninth planet, but when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet, scientists started looking for a new Planet X. Did they have a thing about odd numbers or what? And guess what?

[00:45:38]Some really think there might be a big, icy planet hiding far, far away beyond Neptune.

[00:45:45]This mystery planet is often called Planet Nine. [music] Now, Planet Nine hasn't been seen yet, but scientists think it might be out there because of some tiny, far-away space rocks called ETNOs that move following bizarre, confusing paths.

[00:46:02]These paths seem to be grouped together and tilted in a way that doesn't happen by chance. This could mean there's a hidden planet pulling them into place with its gravity.

[00:46:12]If Planet Nine is real, it might be five to 10 times heavier than Earth. It would also be super far away, hundreds of times farther from the Sun than Earth is.

[00:46:23]Over the years, scientists have guessed different distances for its orbit. And the newest guess in 2025 says it could be about 290 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

[00:46:36]There are some cool ideas about where Planet Nine came from. It might have started as a big planet [music] that Jupiter once kicked out of the inner solar system. Or it might have come from another star, or even wandered around space on its own before getting caught by the Sun's gravity.

[00:46:53]Even though scientists have looked really hard using powerful telescopes, no one has actually seen Planet Nine yet. And so far, its existence is [music] still just a theory.

[00:47:05]But recently, a group of researchers tried something clever. They used data from two special space surveys called [music] IRAS and Akari.

[00:47:14]These two looked at the sky in invisible light, far infrared, about 23 years apart.

[00:47:22]Which is helpful because Planet Nine is supposed to move very slowly.

[00:47:27]The team focused on a special list from Akari, which is better at finding faint moving things in space.

[00:47:34]They guessed how bright Planet Nine might be and how fast it might move based on how big, far away, and cold it could be.

[00:47:43]Then they looked for matching blips in the sky that were seen by both IRAS and Akari, but not in the exact same spot.

[00:47:52]That's because a real planet would have moved a little over for years, and they indeed found 13 possible matches that could be Planet Nine.

[00:48:01]Their estimations were based on how far away the object seemed to be, 500 to 700 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and how heavy it might be, which is 7 to 17 times Earth's mass.

[00:48:16]After looking very carefully at all the images, they narrowed it down to one really good candidate.

[00:48:22]The two detections weren't in the same spot in both surveys, and the way they appeared in the Akari map matched what you'd expect from a slow-moving object.

[00:48:32]It showed up on one date and wasn't there 6 months earlier. But, of course, there was a catch.

[00:48:38]Apparently, the old data isn't good enough to figure out the exact path of the potential planet.

[00:48:44]So, the team wants to do new follow-up observations using a special camera called DECam, which is really good at spotting faint moving objects. That way, they can find out if this candidate is really Planet Nine.

[00:48:59]Additionally, it can help us learn more about how our solar system works and how it formed.

[00:49:06]If Planet Nine is ever discovered, it would totally change the way we understand our solar system. It could explain why some far-out space rocks in the Kuiper Belt tilt weirdly.

[00:49:17]The thing is, most planets go around the Sun in a flattish circle. But, those far-away objects are tilted about 20°.

[00:49:25]>> [music] >> Planet Nine might be the reason why.

[00:49:28]Next, we'd probably find out why those tilted objects seem to point the same way.

[00:49:33]>> [music] >> Their orbits are grouped together in one direction. A big hidden planet's gravity could be herding them like sheep.

[00:49:42]There are also some strange tilted objects super far away. They don't make sense unless something big, like Planet Nine, [music] is tugging on them.

[00:49:51]A few space rocks orbit the Sun backward between the big planets, which is kind of the wrong way.

[00:49:57]That's super weird unless something big is messing with them.

[00:50:01]Some far out Kuiper Belt objects keep crossing Neptune's path and haven't been flung away.

[00:50:08]That's because Planet Nine might be helping keep their orbits stable over a long time.

[00:50:15]Another cool thing is that if Planet Nine existed, it would be a super-Earth, a kind of planet we see a lot around other stars, but we don't have in our solar system yet.

[00:50:26]So, finding one here would make our solar system more like the others out there.

[00:50:32]Throughout history, people have been wondering if there could be hidden planets far beyond Neptune, even before Pluto was found.

[00:50:43]Back in 1880, a guy >> [music] >> named George Forbes guessed there might be two unknown planets way out there.

[00:50:50]One about 100 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and the other about 300 times farther.

[00:50:57]He thought these mystery planets might be pulling on some comets and changing their orbits, kind of like how Jupiter does with the comets near it.

[00:51:07]In 2004, scientists found a weird little world called Sedna. It had a strange path around the Sun that didn't seem to be affected by any of the known planets.

[00:51:17]It's closest point to the Sun, called perihelion, is way too far for Neptune to be the reason.

[00:51:24]This made some scientists wonder if Sedna got pushed into its path by a hidden planet, maybe even something as big as Earth or bigger.

[00:51:33]Others thought maybe it was a star that flew by a long time ago, or another star that formed near ours.

[00:51:41]Then, in 2014, another odd object was discovered.

[00:51:46]>> [music] >> It had a very similar orbit to Sedna, which made people even more suspicious that there could be something big out [music] there messing with their paths.

[00:51:55]This kicked off a new round of the Planet X or Planet Nine hunt.

[00:52:01]At a meeting in 2012, a scientist named Rodney Gomes said that maybe there was a big [music] hidden planet around 1,500 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

[00:52:11]He thought it could explain the orbits of other odd objects like some far-out comets and centaurs, [music] small bodies that wander among the giant planets.

[00:52:21]At that time, those who supported the Planet Nine theory believed [music] that if it existed, it would move around the Sun in a huge stretched-out circle called an elliptical orbit.

[00:52:32]It would be about 400 to 800 times farther from the Sun than Earth is.

[00:52:37]About 13 to 26 times farther than Neptune.

[00:52:41]If it really had that kind of orbit, it would take around 10,000 to 20,000 years to go around the Sun just once.

[00:52:49]Plus, if it indeed orbited the Sun, it wouldn't follow the same flat path as the other planets. Its path would be tilted by about 15° to 25°.

[00:53:00]The farthest point in its orbit, called aphelion, >> [music] >> would be in the direction of the Taurus constellation.

[00:53:06]As for the closest point, it would point towards Serpens, Ophiuchus, or [music] Libra.

[00:53:12]As for the composition of Planet Nine, it would probably be a lot like Uranus or Neptune. It would have a thick atmosphere made of hydrogen and helium, >> [music] >> and it would be super cold, -375° Fahrenheit.

[00:53:26]Its core would be made of iron, and its middle layer would be full of rock and water ice.

[00:53:32]At the same time, if the planet was smaller and denser, then it might be more like Earth with a rocky surface instead of a gaseous one.

[00:53:40]According to a scientist named Mike Brown, if Planet Nine was real, a space probe would reach it in about 20 years if we used a powerful slingshot path around the Sun.

[00:53:54]>> A new super-Earth has been spotted by astronomers, and it's quite intriguing.

[00:53:59]This planet, called TOI 715 b, is about 1 and 1/2 the size of Earth, which is why it's called the super-Earth. It's also [music] relatively close to us in space terms, only 137 light-years away.

[00:54:14]>> [music] >> For comparison, most exoplanets are hundreds of light-years away, and all the interesting stuff, like black holes and nebulas, are usually more than thousands of light-years away from us.

[00:54:25]So, could it be habitable?

[00:54:29]The habitable zone is an estimate of where a planet might have the right conditions [music] for liquid water.

[00:54:35]This is what we call some distance from the star where the temperatures on the planet should be okay-ish, and water should stay liquid on its surface. It's not super precise because it depends on a bunch of factors, like the type of star, how reflective [music] the planet is, its size, and so on.

[00:54:53]Also, just being in this zone isn't enough for water to actually be there.

[00:54:58]The planet also needs the right kind of atmosphere and a few other things. So, we invented a stricter definition in 2014, the conservative habitable zone.

[00:55:08]It's a more precise term defining the best candidates that have liquid water.

[00:55:13]Otherwise, we get too many potentially habitable planets that are not actually habitable at all.

[00:55:20]The CHZ is based on how much energy a planet gets from its star compared to Earth. If a rocky planet gets between [music] 40 to 85%, it's considered to be in the CHZ, no matter how far away it is from its star. [music] These planets have a higher chance of being habitable. And yes, TOI 715b is located there.

[00:55:45]This super-Earth orbits the M-type star, also called red dwarf. [music] It's a star that's much smaller and cooler than our sun, about a quarter of the sun's size and mass. But if the planet is located in the habitable zone, it's actually a better option for life.

[00:56:02]Red dwarfs live much longer than our sun, a yellow dwarf. This also means that they have more time to form little creatures on their planet. And this red dwarf really is older than our star. Our sun is 4.6 billion years old, and this star is 6.6 billion years old, give or take a few hundred million.

[00:56:22]It doesn't have much magnetic activity, so [music] it's not dangerous. It doesn't flare up like younger red dwarfs. These flares can be super strong and might even hurt planets by taking away their atmospheres.

[00:56:34]Although some planets around it do have thinner atmospheres, it seems like this red dwarf has already gone all out.

[00:56:42]These red dwarfs are where we're looking for planets that could support life right now.

[00:56:48]Our super-Earth is really close to its star, zooming around it in just 19 days.

[00:56:53]Since the star is small and the planet is so close, the planet passing in front of its star happens a lot and looks really clear. This makes it easy for telescopes like the James Webb to study its atmosphere without needing too much time.

[00:57:09]Now, speaking of the James Webb Space Telescope, it's bringing us into a new era of understanding distant planets beyond our solar system. Imagine being able to see what gases make up the air on a planet millions of light-years away. James Webb will help us to find worlds that could support life.

[00:57:28]Right now, it's trying to figure out whether TOI 715b has an atmosphere. If it does, its atmosphere might be easier to spot compared to a planet that's drier and denser. And then, we might get even more height because it would look like a good place for life.

[00:57:45]On top of all that, there might be another planet in this system also in the habitable zone. We're not sure whether it's really there. It's just a candidate with a crazy name. But, if it turns out to be real, it would be about the size of Earth. Also, it would be the smallest planet in the habitable zone ever spotted by the TESS telescope.

[00:58:08]Now, another cool thing about TOI-715b is that it can not just have water on it, but be an entire water world. An ocean planet is a type of planet that has an ocean covering its surface or has subsurface oceans. They might not have much dry land because the water can cover everything. Sometimes the entire planet can be covered in other liquids like lava or ammonia.

[00:58:33]When it comes to planets outside our solar system, we can't see surface water directly with our current technology.

[00:58:40]Instead, scientists look for water vapor in the atmosphere as a hint there might be liquid water below. And, of course, we wonder if these planets can have life. Hopefully, not in the form of leviathan-like monsters.

[00:58:54]Our models show that planets with oceans might be pretty common in our galaxy.

[00:58:58]This means there could be lots of ocean worlds out there waiting to be discovered.

[00:59:06]But, the most important part about TOI-715b is that it's in the so-called small planet radius gap.

[00:59:14]If we give the planets a lineup, there will be those that are bigger and smaller than Earth. But, there's a sudden gap in planets that are about from 1 and 1/2 to 2 times bigger than ours. [music] Where are they?

[00:59:27]This gap is interesting to scientists because it tells us something about how planets form [music] and change over time. It's not that planets don't form in this size range. They actually start off larger and then lose some of their mass, like a balloon gradually deflating.

[00:59:43]Perhaps it happens because of how they orbit their stars, with stars blowing away some of their mass as they dance around it, as our sun does with gas from comet tails.

[00:59:53]This gap holds a lot of mystery, and planets like our new super Earth are clues that could help us unravel it. We aren't sure whether it exists around red dwarfs. Maybe it's a gap in how dense these planets are, rather than in their actual size. So, studying our discovered planet is even more interesting. It'll help us learn more about distant stars and their planets.

[01:00:17]Now, I mentioned TESS a while back.

[01:00:20]NASA's TESS, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, has been in space for 6 years now and has been incredibly successful.

[01:00:28]NASA launched TESS because we already found over 5,000 planets orbiting other stars, mainly thanks to the Kepler telescope. But Kepler mostly found large planets, not necessarily like Earth. We decided to focus TESS on finding smaller Earth-like planets around nearby bright stars, making them easier to study with future telescopes.

[01:00:53]Here's how it works. The camera observes stars and looks for changes in their brightness. If the brightness suddenly drops for a while and then gets back, it could mean there is a planet passing in front of it.

[01:01:05]But stars can dim for other reasons, too. For example, flaring up or having dark spots on their surface, which is why we need to be careful with this data.

[01:01:15]TESS shows us the size and orbit of these planets. Then ground telescopes help determine their mass. With these three parameters, we can figure out what the planets are made of and if [music] they're rocky like Earth or gassy like Jupiter. Yeah, you want to avoid Jupiter after taco night.

[01:01:35]One example of TESS's discoveries was the TOI 700 system. There, it discovered its first ever Earth-like planet, TOI 700d.

[01:01:46]This exoplanet also orbited a red dwarf and it's even closer to us, about 100 light-years away. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to be habitable because the temperatures there are crazy.

[01:01:58]Another big discovery was made in the AU Microscopii system. TESS discovered a planet about four times the size of Earth and another nearly three times Earth's size. This system has become a key area for studying how stars and planets form and change over time.

[01:02:15]TESS has also spotted a variety of other exciting finds, including supernova, hot worlds, and so on. And as it enters its sixth year, we can only expect more exciting findings to come.