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otatop t1_jd5aw5x wrote

Reply to comment by Always2ndB3ST in Is there another massive planet beyond Neptune? If so, why haven’t we found it? by Always2ndB3ST

> we are discovering exoplanets left and right. Why is it so order in our own backyard?

Discovering exoplanets is sort of like seeing distant mountains, we can spot them because they're "easy" to find by just looking for dips in light from their respective stars.

Discovering a planet near us is like being able to identify a small pebble from far away because we can't use the same methods we use to find exoplanets, so we're just blindly looking into space trying to see if one of the millions of little dots we can see moves like a planet would.

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Designer-Wolverine47 t1_jd5fypy wrote

One way would be to send out two observatories in perpendicular directions then at a sufficient(?) distance, have them look back at the sun and look for unexpected perturbations. Then calculate.

It wouldn't be cheap though...

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cantwejustbefiends t1_jd5khps wrote

With this object being so far away, and a possible 10,000 year orbit, it would take a long long long time to make out perturbations due to it.

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