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Searching for a Black Hole in the Outer Solar System

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arxiv 2004.14192 v2 pith:RRZIH6GJ submitted 2020-04-29 astro-ph.EP hep-phhep-th

classification astro-ph.EPhep-phhep-th
keywords planetblackconventionalholeobjectorderoutersearches
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

There are hints of a novel object ("Planet 9") with a mass $5-10$ $M_\oplus$ in the outer Solar System, at a distance of order 500 AU. If it is a relatively conventional planet, it can be found in telescopic searches. Alternatively, it has been suggested that this body might be a primordial black hole (PBH). In that case, conventional searches will fail. A possible alternative is to probe the gravitational field of this object using small, laser-launched spacecraft, like the ones envisioned in the Breakthrough Starshot project. With a velocity of order $.001~c$, such spacecraft can reach Planet 9 roughly a decade after launch and can discover it if they can report timing measurements accurate to $10^{-5}$ seconds back to Earth.

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