Space & Astronomy

Could there really be a 'Planet X' ?

By T.K. Randall
November 9, 2012 ·  19 comments

Image Credit: NASA While the hunt for new planets is now mostly focused on other solar systems, the idea that there could be one or more new planets lurking within our own solar system's Kuiper Belt has not been forgotten. The idea of a 'Planet X' has even been associated with doomsday predictions and 2012 with some people believing that the end of the world will be brought about by this enigmatic world colliding with the Earth. There is however no evidence that such an event is likely to happen.

One particularly compelling phenomenon that might indicate the presence of a planet in the outer solar system is the 'Kuiper Cliff', a point at which the frozen debris in the Kuiper Belt suddenly stops. Could there be an unknown planet out there influencing these objects or is there another explanation that science has yet to discover ?[!gad]While the hunt for new planets is now mostly focused on other solar systems, the idea that there could be one or more new planets lurking within our own solar system's Kuiper Belt has not been forgotten. The idea of a 'Planet X' has even been associated with doomsday predictions and 2012 with some people believing that the end of the world will be brought about by this enigmatic world colliding with the Earth. There is however no evidence that such an event is likely to happen.

One particularly compelling phenomenon that might indicate the presence of a planet in the outer solar system is the 'Kuiper Cliff', a point at which the frozen debris in the Kuiper Belt suddenly stops. Could there be an unknown planet out there influencing these objects or is there another explanation that science has yet to discover ?

Source: abc.net.au | Comments (19)

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