National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Photo: Earth-Size Planet to Be Found in Outer Solar System?


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The sun barely illuminates the dwarf planet Eris in an artist's conception. The distant body rocked the astronomical community when it was discovered in 2005 because it is slightly larger than Pluto, sparking debate over what should be classified as a planet.

Now researchers in Japan say an Earth-size or larger object should be orbiting the sun in the outer reaches of the solar system—and they think they know where to look to find this potential new planet within the next ten years.

Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech