Is there a new planet in our solar system?
Scientists think there might be a new planet—nicknamed Planet Y—hiding 100 to 200 times farther from the Sun than Earth.
It's smaller than the mysterious Planet Nine and estimated to be between Mercury and Earth in size/mass, and we could spot it in the next few years.
Planet Y might explain the 'warp' in the Kuiper belt
Researchers noticed a strange 'warp' in the Kuiper belt (that's a ring of icy objects beyond Neptune), which might be caused by Planet Y's gravity.
Their findings, accepted for publication in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, suggest something big is tugging at these distant orbits—though other explanations, like past close encounters with other stars, aren't ruled out yet.
We might spot Planet Y in the next decade
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon scan this far-off region as part of its Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
If Planet Y is real, we may actually see it—or at least its effects—within the next decade.
Confirming it would mean our solar system still has surprises left from its wild early days.