Some scientists believe there may be a hidden planet beyond Neptune, often referred to as “Planet 9.” This planet, if it exists, is expected to be a faint and distant object. The area of space that needs to be searched is vast.

Located on a mountaintop in Chile, the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory could play a vital role in this quest. This facility has been in development for many years. Scientists are now perfecting its instruments to start a decade-long mission. The observatory plans to capture images of almost the entire southern sky.

The story was reported by science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce. For more of her insights, you can explore her other reports.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Fact-checking was performed by Tyler Jones, with Kwesi Lee as the audio engineer.