Evidence of ninth planet in solar system

Scientists say they have strong evidence that there is a ninth planet in our solar system orbiting far beyond even the dwarf world Pluto. The hypothetical “Planet X” has yet to be observed

EVIDENCE: Orbits of six Kuiper Belt objects (shown in white) appear to be influenced by unknown planet

2007 TG4222

2013 RF98

2004 VN112

Sedna

2012 GB174

PLANETS COMPARED Planet X is likely to conform to most common size of exoplanet detected in other star systems – possibly two to four times diameter of Earth

Kuiper Belt

Saturn

Uranus

Jupiter

Pluto

Neptune

2012 VP113

Possible orbit of ninth planet, “Planet X”

Neptune

Planet X

Earth

Mass (Earth = 1) 1 10 17

Length of year (Earth years) 1  10,000 to 20,000 164.8

Distance from sun (km)  150 million 60 billion 4.5 billion

Sources: Caltech, Science, wire agencies

Pictures: NASA