Konstantin Batygin
Konstantin Batygin is a Russian-American astronomer and planetary scientist, known for his work on planet formation and solar system dynamics. He is a professor of Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Born in Moscow in 1986, his family moved to Japan when he was 8 and then to California when he was 13. He studied physics at UC Santa Cruz and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from Caltech.
One of his most known contributions is his work with Michael E. Brown, the scientist famous for "killing Pluto" by reclassifying it as a dwarf planet. In 2016, Konstantin and Brown published a paper suggesting the existence of a ninth planet, unofficially referred to as "Planet Nine," in the outer solar system.
The hypothesized planet, yet to be directly observed as of 2021, is believed to be about ten times the mass of Earth. Beyond "Planet Nine," his work covers aspects of planet formation, celestial dynamics and exoplanets.
He has received numerous accolades for his work, including being named in Forbes' "30 Under 30" list in the Science category in 2015, and being awarded the 2018 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy by the American Astronomical Society.
Outside of his scientific pursuits, Konstantin plays in a rock band called The Seventh Season. In addition he is a co-founder of Lucinetic, an AI company that creates applied language modeling products that enable organizations to leverage their data streams unlocking the power of automation and predictive language.