Is there an Earth-like planet in the solar system?

The secrets of the dark depths of space bring us a new mystery that scientists want to unravel. Is there another planet in the solar system? A team of scientists has been saying this for years. Not only that, they also point out that it is very similar to Earth and is located in a dangerous region of our galactic neighborhood.

The scientific team that predicts the existence of this planet includes astrophysicists Patryk Sofia Lykawka (Kindai University, Japan) and Takashi Ito (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan). They publish a theory in the Astronomical Journal entitled: Is there an Earth-like planet in the distant Kuiper Belt?

“We predict the existence of an Earth-like planet and several trans-Neptunian objects in special orbits in the outer solar system that can serve as testable, observable signatures of perturbations to the putative planet,” the scientists note.

Let’s talk about the dangerous Kuiper Belt

This is a disk-shaped region of the solar system located beyond the orbit of Neptune. This extends approximately 30 to 55 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. The Kuiper Belt contains millions of icy bodies that are believed to be remnants of the formation of the solar system.

Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are small, icy bodies such as Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake. These objects consist primarily of water ice, methane and ammonia. Some KBOs also have thin atmospheres.

The Kuiper Belt is thought to have formed from the protoplanetary disk, a cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the Sun when the solar system was young. As the Sun’s gravity began to attract dust and gas, a rotating disk formed. This disk cooled and condensed, forming the planets and objects of the Kuiper Belt.