A faint flash suddenly lights up the dark night sky. The flash is detected by a large telescope and analysed by surprised astronomers, who announce that it comes from a black hole – no bigger than a grapefruit – swallowing a comet on the outskirts of our own Solar System.
That could be the scenario at some time in the next decade, as the search for an unknown planet in our Solar System intensifies. The hypothetical unknown planet could prove to be a very small black hole, and if so, it will provide a unique opportunity to study a black hole at very close range – and perhaps even visit it one day.
Planet 9 explains orbits
The idea of a ninth planet was proposed in a scientific article by two astronomers, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown from
