A team of scientists has discovered a new planet in the outer area of our solar system that revolves around the sun in an opposite direction. However, this is not the only unique and weird thing about this planet.
This mysterious new planet named after the Chinese word for rebel, "Niku" is located on the far side of Neptune. According to The Mirror, the planet has a retrograde orbit, which means that its orbit is in the opposite direction of the sun's rotation.
Surprisingly, the same characteristic throws Niku's orbit quite high above from the flat orbital disc. The researchers estimate that the planet is positioned at an angle of 110 degrees from the orbital disc, unlike all other planets in the solar system.
The research team further says that Niku is further rising up from the orbital disc and will eventually arc downward due to cross over. This will bring the planet's orbit below the flat orbital disc of the solar system.
The area in which Niku is currently located - far beyond Neptune - has not been explored thoroughly by any of the teams. This is the reason why little is known about the planet and its immediate surroundings. However, the team does know that Niku is small, around just 120 miles in diameter.
Nobody exactly knows why Niku has such a strange orbit. However, a number of theories have come up since the findings have been publicly revealed. Some experts believe that the strange orbit could be a result of a collision that happened in the past, whereas others believe that it could have been pulled into orbit by something large and forceful orbiting well beyond Pluto.
Dr. Matthew Holman of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics believes that a lot of things may be happening in the outer solar system that researchers already know. Holman was a part of the team that discovered Niku.
It has been long speculated that there may be a Planet Number 9 in the outer solar system. However, nothing has been proved till date.
