WASHINGTON (AFP) – A planet hitherto unknown giant, dubbed Planet Nine , could have been discovered crossing the confines of the solar system US scientists announced Wednesday.
The object “has about 10 times the mass of Earth” and is “an extravagant and highly elongated orbit in the distant solar system,” said CalTech University research and disclosed in specialized publication Astronomical Journal.
“In fact, this new planet would take 10,000 to 20,000 years to complete one orbit around the sun.”
Researchers Konstantin Batygin and say Mike Brown found the planet by designing computer and mathematical simulations, but have not seen the object directly.
The celestial body has about 5,000 times the mass of Pluto, which has been listed since 2006 as a planet dwarf in the solar system, so the Solar System includes only eight known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
The new finding “could be the real ninth planet ” Brown, professor of planetary astronomy said.
“We still need to find large portions of our Solar System, it is very exciting,” he said.
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