Goodbye to our Solar System as we know it: Astronomers confirm there is a new planet orbiting the Sun beyond Pluto | Marca

It doesn't have a name yet

The universe is a complete unknown to humans. We are not yet able to control and understand the system in which Earth is located, as evidenced by the possible discovery made by a group of astronomers from the University of Taiwan, who suggest that they may have found clues to the existence of a ninth planet.

The Solar System is currently known to be made up of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, apart from Pluto, which has long been considered a dwarf planet. But one more could join this select group, according to an infrared study carried out between 1986 and 2006.

The work was based on data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and the Japanese satellite AKARI, which detected an object moving between 46.5 billion and 65.1 billion miles from the Sun, meaning it would take between 10,000 and 20,000 years to complete an orbit.

Its mass would be seven to 17 times that of Earth, making it what is known as an ice giant, similar to Neptune or Uranus, with temperatures around -200 degrees, but how was this new possible planet discovered?

The study says it arises from anomalous patterns in the Kuiper Belt, an icy region beyond Neptune. The body appears in two historical images, so further observations are still needed to reach a conclusion, thus trying to confirm its orbit.

In addition, it must be verified that it meets the requirements to be a planet, such as: orbiting around a star, in this case the Sun; having sufficient mass for a spherical shape, this is accompanied by gravity, which must be strong enough; and clearing the area of its orbit, i.e. having expelled or attracted other bodies of comparable size.