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Scientists have announced a new planet in the solar system that is "hiding"

Bylim Olena

Scientists have announced a new planet in the solar system that is 'hiding'
Planet, illustrative image. Source: Daniel Frank/pexels.com

Planet Nine, also known as Planet X, is a potential planet orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto in the outer reaches of the solar system.

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have released a new study that sheds light on the likely location of the ninth planet in the solar system, ScienceAlert writes .

Read also: For the first time astronomers saw a galaxy in which there is not a single star

Although the planet itself has not yet been discovered, the researchers, using data from the Pan-STARRS telescopes, have significantly narrowed down the possible search locations.

So where could the ninth planet be hiding?

According to the study, the planet, if it exists, is more than 500 astronomical units away from the Sun, which is 500 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. Its mass is probably 6.6 Earth masses.

Scientists say that 20% of the unexplored regions in the outer solar system remain promising to search. New observations from the telescope at the Vera Rubin Observatory, which is currently under construction, could significantly help in this endeavor.

The discovery of the ninth planet will be a significant step in our understanding of the solar system. This planet, the fifth largest, could explain the strange orbits of objects in the outer solar system that have so far remained a mystery.

Previously, scientists discovered a planet with oceans of lava just 73 light-years away.

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