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The Sky at Night

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Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Iconic series exploring space science and the incredible universe all around us.

Look up! Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Professor Chris Lintott present the iconic, inspirational look at cutting-edge space science and the incredible universe all around us.

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Chris Lintott

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Michael Lachmann

Jonathan Renouf

The Sky at Night: Planet 9 from Outer Space

Planet 9 from Outer Space

14/02/2016

BBC Four - The Sky at Night, Planet 9 from Outer Space

Investigating the claims for a ninth planet existing in our solar system.

The team investigates the search for Planet 9, after two American astronomers claimed they had found evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system.

On January 20 2016, two American astronomers made an extraordinary claim - they had found evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system, a planet 20 times further out than Neptune which would take up to 20,000 years to orbit the sun. It is a discovery that could completely rewrite our understanding of our solar system and how it formed.

As the world's biggest telescopes start scanning the skies searching for Planet 9, the Sky at Night team investigates. If Planet 9 exists, where is it and where did it come from? 

In California, Chris Lintott meets the astronomers whose study of the distant Kuiper Belt led them to predict the existence of the planet. And while some scientists are still sceptical, Maggie Aderin-Pocock discovers how our models of the formation of the solar system and the discovery of similar exoplanets around other stars all support the existence of Planet 9.

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