Scientists Just Discovered Evidence of Two New Planets in Our Solar System Jared Keller - Science.Mic
go to original January 19, 2015

Our solar system just got a little bit bigger.

Researchers have uncovered evidence of two more planets circling our sun far beyond Pluto's orbit. It's a discovery that scientists say could revolutionize current models on the formation of the solar system.

The discovery came from a new comprehensive new analysis of the orbits of "extreme trans-Neptunian objects" by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Complutense University of Madrid.

"The exact number is uncertain, given that the data that we have is limited, but our calculations suggest that there are at least two planets, and probably more, within the confines of our solar system," lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos said in a statement.

The researchers studied 13 TNOs, dwarf planets like Pluto and Sedna that travel around the sun at great distances in elliptical orbits. Their results are detailed in two papers in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.

"This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution of the orbital elements of the TNOs, and we consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto," Marcos said.

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Graphic: Universe Today

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