Soon, our solar system’s image may undergo a radical makeover as there is evidence of one real planet in our solar system that is yet to be discovered.
Dr. Mike Brown and Dr. Konstantin Batygin, researchers at the California Institute of Technology, have discovered a new planet in the outer reaches of the solar system.
In fact, the scientists haven’t actually seen the planet, but they have discovered the planet’s existence through mathematical modeling and computer simulations.
Image courtesy Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
The researchers have nicknamed it as “Planet Nine”. Here are its features:
- Its mass is about 10 times that of Earth.
- This planet would take about 10,000-20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the sun. In other words, one year on this planet would last 10,000-20,000 Earth years.
- Planet Nine gravitationally dominates its neighborhood of the solar system.
- Planet Nine is about 5,000 times the mass of Pluto.
- Planet Nine’s days and years are exponentially longer than ours, as it orbits the sun at approximately 20 times the distance of Neptune’s orbit, which is 2.8 billion miles away.
