Mysterious ‘Planet 9’ could be lurking at the edge of our solar system

A planet which has never been seen by astronomers could be lurking at the dark edges of our solar system, astronomers believe.

More evidence has piled up for the existence of a so-called ‘Planet Nine’ in the form of a distant rocky object with an ‘extraordinary’ orbit.

Its wonky flight path suggests it’s being ‘pulled’ by the gravity of a large object at the edge of our solar system, the University of Michigan researchers say.

In 2016, Caltech scientists spotted signs which offered a hint that there is a huge, unseen world lurking at the edge of our solar system – and other rocky objects have since offered hints it might be there.

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The giant, hidden planet is thought to be 10 times more massive than Earth – and on an orbit which takes 10,000 or 20,000 years to go round the sun.

The University of Michigan researchers say that a large rocky object, 2015 BP519, has an orbit which is tilted away from the plane on which most objects that orbit the sun lie.

When the researchers added a large planet to their simulation, it matched the orbit of 2015 BP519 perfectly.

Professor David Gerdes said, ‘’It’s not proof that Planet Nine exists. But I would say the presence of an object like this in our solar system bolsters the case for Planet Nine.’