Researchers find clues of planet nine that could join our solar system

Researchers claim that there may be a ninth planet on the border of our Solar System, which could be 10 times bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune and Uranus, according to Livemint. They believe that this planet is 20 times further away from the Sun than Neptune.

Scientists have been searching the evidence of planet nine's existence for decades, which may be tilting towards our solar system. They have suggested that this new planet, which may be present beyond Neptune, would be responsible for destroying our solar system, the Independent reported.

It's yet to be declared an official planet

Researchers at Caltech in Pasadena were the first who theorized planet nine in 2014. A planetary astrophysicist, Konstantin Batygin at Caltech, said that "There are now five different lines of observational evidence pointing to the existence of planet Nine." His team added that they have found the gravitational footprints of the ninth planet. Researchers do not have much evidence to prove it an official planet in solar system.

Normally, in other galaxies, planets which are surrounded by their stars, tend to rotate in line with them, but in our solar system, the planets are 6 degrees off from the Sun's axis, according to Express. It looks rather strange that our Sun rotates in a different plane.

So, scientists gave an explanation that something is pulling the entire solar system out of its alignment, and it could be the ninth planet.

Batygin's research

According to Dr. Batygin's team, six objects in the Kuiper Belt, a disc-shaped region of frozen volatiles, extend from the orbit of Neptune outward toward interstellar space.

Batygin revealed that the six objects are tilted 30 degrees downward than the plane of other eight planets in the solar system. He also said that these objects have the elliptical orbit, pointing in the same direction, Daily Mail wrote.

Researcher's further investigation found out that there should more objects which might be titled 90 degrees to the planes of the eight planets revolve around the Sun.

One of the graduates from Caltech said that eight planets in our solar system could have been titled by planet nine for the past 4.5 billion years.

Batygin said that the ninth planet would make the entire plane of our solar system unstable in future. Astronomers have started looking into the deep sky with the help of Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory to find the evidence of the planet nine.