The existence of this new planet in the Solar System, beyond Neptune, represents a revolutionary discovery in the field of astronomy.
After years of speculation and theories, NASA has confirmed a momentous discovery: a new planet within the Solar System. This discovery has been resulted by research of California Institute of Technology, marking a before and a after in the way the galactic environment was known.
This planet, which is beyond the orbit of Neptune, is confirmed not to be a return of Pluto to the category of planet, but a completely new and massive body that has baffled scientists. With between five and ten times the mass of Earth, its existence was suggested by analyzing the behavior of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), whose movement seems to be influenced by its gravitational field.
The appearance of this new planet has been the subject of speculation for more than a hundred years, especially in the wake of the aforementioned Pluto. The data collected from the TNOs reveal patterns of orbital behavior that cannot be justified without a large celestial body affecting its trajectory.
However, despite these tests, the discovery faces significant challenges. This planet is so far from the Sun and reflects so little sunlight that its direct detection is almost impossible with current technology. To solve this challenge, NASA is developing a specialized telescope capable of tracking these dark regions of the sky with unprecedented precision.
The requirements that an unknown object must meet to be considered a planet
Not every celestial body can be classified as a planet. According to NASA guidelines, a planet must meet certain fundamental requirements:
Clear orbit: the object must dominate its orbit and not share it with other bodies.
Significant mass: it must be massive enough to overcome the gravitational influence of other nearby objects.
A well-known example is Pluto, which in 2006 was reclassified as a dwarf planet for not meeting these characteristics, as it shares its orbit with other bodies in the Kuiper Belt.