A planet roughly the size of Earth could be tracing a vast, elliptical orbit at the outer edge of our solar system—and astronomers in Japan think they know where to find it.
The presence of this unnamed body has been suggested before, noted Tadashi Mukai, a professor at Kobe University's department of earth and planetary sciences.
"We have been able to identify more than 1,100 objects beyond Neptune since 1992, and a huge number of objects are showing large orbital eccentricities and elliptical orbits," Mukai said.
This suggests that a body with sizeable mass must be influencing the movement of these objects by exerting a gravitational pull.
But the extreme distance and unusual orbit of the elusive "Planet X" have made it difficult to spot even with the most advanced telescopes.
In a paper appearing in an upcoming issue of the Astronomical Journal, Mukai and colleagues propose that other researchers have simply been looking in the wrong place.
"We have reached our conclusions from simulations that explain the orbital elements," Mukai said.
"We are now looking in places that we have not looked before, and I think we will be able to see the planet within the next five or ten years."
Another Planet X hunt? Is it really planet X though? Y'know since Pluto got demoted.
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