Scientists have discovered an Earth-like planet in our solar system!

The possibility of a planet like Earth in the solar system’s Kuiper Belt shows evidence discovered by astrophysicists in Japan.
In a related scientific article published in the Astronomical Journal, Patrick Sofia Lekavka and Takashi Ito, of Kintai University and the National Observatory of Japan, describe features/characteristics of the Kuiper Belt that they believe are consistent with the existence of a planet that it is not. Much larger than Earth.

“The orbits of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) may indicate the presence of an undiscovered planet in the outer solar system… We have found that an Earth-like planet in a distant, tilted orbit could explain… the basic characteristics of the planet. The distant Kuiper belt: a large number of TNOs with orbits exceeding the influence of Neptune’s gravity…and the presence of some extreme objects with strange orbits…we expect the presence of an Earth-like planet and various TNOs in strange orbits in the outer solar system, which could serve as ‘signatures’ that can be verified by observation of the planet’s putative perturbations. “, the researchers wrote.

There is quite a lot of research in the last decade that supports theories regarding the possibility of the existence of a planet in the outskirts of the solar system, and many call it, on a theoretical basis, Planet Nine.

However, in this case, researchers believe there may be a planet much closer: in the Kuiper Belt, a semicircular disk of objects in the outer solar system that begins just beyond Neptune’s orbit. Like the planets, Kuiper Belt matter orbits the Sun. Previous research has indicated that the objects in the disk are asteroids, space rocks, comets and other small pieces of material, mostly ice. The researchers found that some objects in the Kuiper Belt behave in a way that suggests the possibility of a planet among them, up to about 500 astronomical units (astronomical units – an astronomical unit equals 150 million kilometers, and was previously defined as Earth’s average distance from the Sun). In comparison, Neptune is about 30 astronomical units from the Sun.
By studying TNOs, scientists have found that some of them have strange orbits, suggesting that they are affected by a body’s gravity greater than typical TNOs. They also found a large number of highly tilted objects, and used computer simulations to explain these behaviors.
Simulations showed that the most likely explanation was a planet in the Kuiper Belt, which, if it existed, would have a mass of 1.5 to 3 times that of Earth and an orbit that would bring it to a distance of 250-500 AU. from the sun.

As for how such a planet has not been discovered yet, he notes that although many have the impression that our solar system is “known,” its outskirts are a very remote and “mysterious” region, far from sunlight. The Sun – so even a body as large as a planet can escape our notice. It’s worth noting that the farthest single object we’ve been able to find in the solar system was 132 AU away when it was discovered – while Pluto, for example, is only 40 AU away from the Sun. Beyond Neptune there are many icy rocks and dwarf planets (Kuiper Belt), and in recent years, with more sensitive telescopes and more comprehensive surveys, it has become possible to detect many more TNOs, allowing scientists to see patterns in their behavior.