Read on Twitter
My @CAPhys lecture about Planet 9 and how megaconstellations are about to ruin the sky is posted here:
Thank you to the organizers!
Thank you to the organizers!
Summary: If you don't know your observation biases and look at distant TNO orbits, you see clustering and require something to explain that clustering (Planet 9). But if you DO account for biases, you do not see clustering, and don't require Planet 9.
There are 2 really weird TNO orbits (Sedna and VP113) that we really can't explain still, but there are loads of possible theories, Planet 9 being one of them.
To test which theory is true, we need to find more distant, high-pericentre TNOs.
To test which theory is true, we need to find more distant, high-pericentre TNOs.
BUT, megaconstellations of satellites (like Starlink) are about to make discovering more of these incredibly hard.
The TNOs we are looking for are more than 15 MILLION times fainter than the Starlinks that will fly through our telescope views! So, we might never know.
The TNOs we are looking for are more than 15 MILLION times fainter than the Starlinks that will fly through our telescope views! So, we might never know.
That 15 million number really blew my mind. I actually had @Mikea1985 double check my calculations to make sure I wasn't exaggerating. But it's true: finding new distant TNOs, as well as many other types of astronomy, is about to become nearly impossible.
