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Researchers claim to have discovered a new Earth-size planet named
Kuiper belt in solar system, just behind Neptune and estimate it to be
much larger than previous estimates.
Researchers investigated the Kuiper belt, which was named after
Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who proposed its existence in
1951.
The research, published in the Astronomical Journal, indicated an object
within the Kuiper Belt with “unusual” properties, such as gravitational
influence over other objects, indicating its planetary status.
The Kuiper belt is a doughnut-shaped ring of icy objects left over from
the creation of the sun’s planets billions of years ago. Because of its
remote location, the scientists were unable to reach it.
Scientists wrote in their report: “We predict the existence of an
Earth-like planet. It is plausible that a primordial planetary body
could survive in the distant Kuiper Belt as a Kuiper Belt planet, as
many such bodies existed in the early solar system.” |