US scientists announce discovery of ‘10th planet’
LOS ANGELES: A US astronomer announced on Friday he had discovered what could be a 10th planet that is larger than Pluto in the outer reaches of the solar system.
If confirmed, the discovery by Prof Mike Brown of the respected California Institute of Technology would be the first of a planet since Pluto was identified in 1930.
The body is “the 10th planet of the solar system”, said Prof Brown. “It’s the farthest object ever discovered to orbit around the sun.”
“It’s definitely bigger than Pluto,” he said of the body made up of ice and rock that lies nearly 15 billion kilometres from earth.
The planet, the proposed name of which has not been made public, is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet, Prof Brown said. However, he conceded that the discovery would likely rekindle debate over the definition of planet and whether Pluto should still be regarded as one. The planet was spotted with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California. afp
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