Caltech researchers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown have found discovered a giant planet in our outer solar system tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit. Officially nicknamed “Planet Nine,” it has a mass about 10-times that of Earth and orbits 20-times further from the sun on average than does Neptune (which orbits the sun at an average distance of 2.8-billion-miles). It would take this new planet approximately 10,000-20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the sun. Continue reading for a video showcasing the findings in more detail. Click here to view more potentially habitable planets.
“Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we become increasingly convinced that it is out there. For the first time in over 150 years, there is solid evidence that the solar system’s planetary census is incomplete,” said Batygin, an assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech.
