According to far-sighted scientists working out of Kobe University in Japan, a mysterious new planet around two-thirds the size of Earth is currently orbiting in the outer most reaches of the solar system.
Japanese research team claims a new planet will be discovered in our solar system within a decade. Credit: SideLong/Flickr.
While yet without concrete proof of the planet’s existence, the scientific research team claims that theoretical calculations taken from computer simulations suggest it’s not a case of if ‘Planet X’ will be found, but rather when.
Speaking with AFP, Kobe University professor Tadashi Mukai explained that the planet’s surface is likely “covered with ice, icy ammonia and methane” because of the extremely cold temperatures associated with orbiting so far from the Sun.
While the full Planet X study is due to be ran in the April issue of US publication Astronomical Journal, a research summary has outlined it be highly possible that “a yet unknown, planet-class celestial body, measuring some 30 to 70 percent of the Earth’s mass, exists in the outer edges of the solar system.”
According to the study, properly focused research will lead to the outer lying body being officially discovered in “less than 10 years,” with the planet thought to be orbiting the Sun every thousand years on an oblong elliptical path of between 15 to 26 billion kilometres.
The research team, which built a theoretical model exploring how the outer edges of our solar system would have shaped and formed across 4 billion years, offers that in excess of 1,100 celestial bodies have been located in the most remote areas of the solar system over the last 10 or 12 years.
“Based on our hypothesis, we calculated how debris moved over the past four billion years. The result matched the actual movement of the celestial bodies we can observe now,” said professor Mukai, who also added that the project will eventually locate Planet X, which is described as much bigger than ex-planet Pluto.
In 2006, Pluto was removed from the official list of ‘planets’ in the solar system after its size and overlapping orbit with Neptune saw the International Astronomical Union deeming it as only a dwarf planet.
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