Article Image

IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

'At least two more planets' beyond Pluto, scientists say

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk-Press Association

At least two as-yet undiscovered planets as big as Earth or larger may be hiding in the outer fringes of the Solar System, scientists believe. 

The secret worlds are thought to exist beyond the orbits of Neptune, the furthest true planet from the Sun, and the even more distant tiny ''dwarf planet'' Pluto. 

The evidence comes from observations of a belt of space rocks known as ''extreme trans-Neptunion objects'' (Etnos). 

Orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune, Etnos should be distributed randomly with paths that have certain defined characteristics. 

But a dozen of the bodies have completely unexpected orbital values consistent with them being influenced by the gravitational pull of something unseen. 

Professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, the lead scientist from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), quoted by the Spanish scientific news service (Sinc), said: ''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 Etno, and we consider that the most probable explanation is that other unknown planets exist beyond Neptune and Pluto. 

''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.'' 

Astronomers have spent decades debating whether a hidden planet beyond Pluto remained undiscovered.


ppmsilvercosmetics.com/ERNEST/