Astronomers may have discovered an enormous new planet at the edge of the solar system


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
After discovering a new icy dwarf planet past Pluto, two astronomers are reporting in the journal Nature that a larger planet might be concealed in the outer limits of the solar system.
National Geographic reports that the newly discovered dwarf planet, named 2012 VP113 (nicknamed "Biden") and located more than 800,000 million miles away from the sun, has an orbit that seems to be affected by another, mystery planet predicted to be two to 10 times heavier than Earth. That same mystery planet also possibly stretched out the orbit of Sedna, an object the size of a dwarf planet discovered 10 years ago. "To all intents and purposes, in the current architecture of the solar system, Sedna and 2012 VP113 should not be there," astronomer Megan Schwamb of Taiwan's Academia Sinica said in a commentary in Nature. "This suggests that Sedna and 2012 VP113 are the tip of the iceberg."
This composite photo shows 2012 VP113 in motion — the red, green, and blue dots are colored photos of the dwarf planet taken two hours apart. --Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scott S. Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
All about Zealandia, the Earth’s potential 8th continent
The Explainer The secret continent went undiscovered for over 300 years
By Devika Rao Published
-
A reckoning over looted art
The Explainer Thousands of artifacts in U.S. and European collections were stolen from their countries of origin. Should they be sent back?
By The Week Staff Published
-
A surge in surge pricing
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published