Researchers from the University of Michigan have recently discovered a new planet that exists in our solar system. This newly discovered "dwarf" planet, dubbed as 2014 UZ224 is just beyond the orbit of Pluto. Moreover, astronomers believe that the solar system may soon have a ninth planet.
The newly discovered planet, 2014 UZ224 is approximately 330 miles across, which is much smaller than Ceres, another dwarf planet, whose diameter is 580 miles. This makes the new planet remarkably small and it also fits the definition of a dwarf planet, as considered by NASA, claims Digital Trends.
Scientists are still not sure about the exact orbital path of this new dwarf planet but they believe that a single orbit around the sun would be roughly 1100 Earth years. Moreover, the distance of the new dwarf planet and the Sun is approximately 8.5 billion miles.
The team of researchers from the University of Michigan, led by David Gerdes found this new dwarf planet, using "Dark Energy Camera (DECam)," a specialized camera that Gerdes developed. The scientific community is hopeful that this specialized camera will explain the role of dark energy that is leading to an accelerated expansion of the universe.
The discovery of the 2014 UZ224 was the result of "Dark Energy Survey," a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to map distant galaxies using the DECam.
It is worth mentioning here that so far, five dwarf planets have been recognized in the solar system, namely, Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake. But, scientists feel that are possibly more out there that are yet to be discovered.
Notably, it was previously believed that beyond Pluto, the solar system is composed of icy small objects. But, recent studies emphasize that the area houses a ninth planet that is much larger than Earth.
Astronomer, Mike Brown who in collaboration with Konstantin Batygin discovered Eris, has claimed in a report that the orbital discrepancy beyond Neptune is due to the presence of an unseen planet that is about 10 times the size of Earth.
However, the search is still on and researchers are yet to announce the presence of this ninth planet in the solar system.
