The solar system has nine planets, but in 2006 the International Astronomical Union declared Pluto a dwarf planet, making the total discovered planets count eight.
But recently astronomers claimed that they are on the brink of making a historic discovery that could restore the solar system to its former nine-planet status.
According to CNN, Mike Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy who is known as “the man who killed Pluto,” discovered a small world called Eris in the Kuiper Belt.
The Kuiper Belt is 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, which astronomers believe was formed by the leftovers from the formation of the solar system.
As objects in the belt are really far from the sun, it is very difficult to spot them. For more than a decade, astronomers have been searching for a planet in that area because they believe that other nearby objects are acting strangely.
Malena Rice, an assistant professor of astronomy at Yale University, said, “If we find another planet, that is a really big deal. It could completely reshape our understanding of the solar system and of other planetary systems and how we fit into that context. It’s really exciting, there is a lot of potential to learn a tremendous amount about the universe.”
“There are definitely full-blown skeptics about Planet Nine, it’s kind of a contentious topic. Some people feel very passionately that it exists. Some people feel very passionately that it doesn’t. There’s a lot of debate in trying to pin down what it is and whether it’s there. But that’s the hallmark of a really interesting topic because otherwise people wouldn’t have heated opinions about it,” she added.
The mystery of Planet X or Planet Nine could be solved after the launch of a new telescope capable of surveying the entire available sky, which is scheduled for late 2025. Until then, the researchers think they have found strong evidence to believe that the hidden planet exists.
