Okay, they're not 100% sure yet, but two scientists are saying that we've got another planet in our solar system that no one ever knew about - and it's huge.
If you grew up thinking there were nine planets and were shocked when Pluto was demoted five years ago, get ready for another surprise. There may be nine after all, and Jupiter may not be the largest.I remember when my nephew, several years back, had a take-home science quiz, and asked my help on it. One of the questions was "how many planets are there in our solar system?" And the possible answers, multiple-choice, were 6, 7, 8, 9. I remember telling him, "well, it depends." He looked at his Uncle John quizzically, and increasingly annoyed, while I explained that some people felt Pluto was not a planet, but it hadn't really been decided yet. I miss Pluto.
The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (pronounced ty-kee), would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth's, and 375 times farther than Pluto's, which is why it hasn't been seen so far.
But scientists now believe the proof of its existence has already been gathered by a Nasa space telescope, Wise, and is just waiting to be analysed.
