Bayeux Tapestry could help NASA unravel mystery of Planet Nine

NASA and other space agencies have debated the idea that there could be an extra planet within our solar system which has so far gone undetected.

The hypothetical Planet Nine is believed to be 10 times bigger than Earth and 20 times farther out from the sun than Neptune.

While Planet Nine’s existence has yet to be officially proven, esteemed researchers strongly suspect that there is a large planet lurking in the far edge of our solar system.

If the planet is there, then it could explain why the solar system is slightly off balance.

In most star systems, the surrounding planets tend to rotate in line with their host.

However, in ours, the planets are at an angle of six degrees off its axis.

NASA believes that this is due to a huge planet and its gravitational pull tugging at our solar system.

With experts unable to confirm its existence by analysing the skies, a duo from Queen’s University Belfast are hoping the Anglo-Saxons can answer the question with clues potentially left in the 950-year old Bayeux Tapestry.

Included in the Bayeux Tapestry is a picture of a comet, and in 1066, when the tapestry was created, there are documents which detail the passing of Halley’s Comet.

By creating simulations of the orbital path of Halley’s comet, experts may be able to decipher whether Planet Nine has had an effect on it.

Pedro Lacerda, an astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast, told Live Science: "We can take the orbits of comets currently known and use a computer to calculate the times when those comets would be visible in the skies during the Middle Ages.

"The precise times depend on whether our computer simulations include Planet Nine.

“So, in simple terms, we can use the medieval comet sightings to check which computer simulations work best: the ones that include Planet Nine or the ones that do not."

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