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investigator may have discover a dozen raw , large objects beyond the Kuiper Belt , which suggests that there is lots more poppycock in thesolar systemthan we realized . It could even suggest that there is a " second Kuiper Belt " further out toward the edge of our leading neighborhood , Science.org reported .
The sun ’s influence reach much further out into space than the eightplanetsthat revolve around it . Beyond Neptune , thesolar systemstretches out to around 100 astronomical unit ( AU ) , which is 100 times the length between Earth andthe sun . For context , the most distant planet from the sun , Neptune , is or so 30 AU from our home star .
An artist’s interpretation of what the sun might look like from the Kuiper Belt.
Beyond the edge of the solar scheme , or heliopause , lies the Oort Cloud — a artificial lake of comets andasteroidsthat are loosely stop by the sun ’s gravity — that stretches to at least 1,000 AU from the sun , and likely even further .
But a majority of the big make love asteroids , comet and other large object that lie beyond Neptune ’s orbit are contained within the Kuiper Belt , which stretches between 30 and 50 AU from the sunshine . far-famed occupier of the Kuiper Belt include the dwarf planetPlutoand the double - lobed objectArrokoth — the most remote object visit by a ballistic capsule . Planet Nine , if it exists , would also footle somewhere within the Kuiper Belt . Until now , very few massive aim in the solar system have been establish beyond the Kuiper Belt .
Related : What does the boundary of the solar system look like ?
An illustrated diagram of the sun and the planets of the solar system.
Researchers light upon the 12 likely massive object around 60 AU from the sun while search for possible new target forNASA ’s New Horizonsspacecraft — the probe that studied Pluto and Arrokoth up near , which is now around 57 AU from the sun as it continues to head toward the heliopause . The team used stilted tidings to rapidly sift through what would otherwise have been calendar week deserving of data captured by the Subaru Telescope on Hawaii ’s Mauna Kea volcano .
The researcherspresented their findingsat the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference , which was held in Houston , Texas in mid - March . ( The determination have not yet been compeer - review or accepted for publication . )
The team is not surprised by their finding . liken to other discovered adept system , the solar scheme is " bloody small , " subject area lead authorWesley Fraser , an astrophysicist with the National Research Council Canada , told Science . The newly detected physical object propose that the solar organization is much more massive , which would fit considerably with what astronomer live about other star systems , he added .
An illustration of the New Horizons spacecraft flying past Pluto and its moon Charon.
The findings could also support data collect by New Horizons , which has continually been bombarded by detritus as it ventures deeply into quad , study co - authorAlan Stern , the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission , told Science . " And the simplest account for that is that there is more stuff out there that we have n’t detected , " he added .
The 10 AU length between the Kuiper Belt and the fresh observed object also suggests that they are being pull away from the rap by something more massive , which could be another more distant Kuiper Belt full of unknown objects , the researchers say .
Related : What ’s the maximum number of planets that could orbit the sunlight ?
But not everyone is convinced by the new findings .
In June , asimilar surveyusing the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope in Chile maintain a different patch of sky , but only turned up one target beyond 50 AU .
— ' Impossible ' young ring organization key at the edge of the solar organization , and scientists are baffle
— Brand - new mini ' lunar month ' found lurking in the outer solar system
— ' Farfarout ' is most distant target in our solar system . But it ’s not Planet Nine .
" If there really is a new whack , that ’s a super exciting thing , " go over leadPedro Bernardinelli , an astronomer at the University of Washington , told Science . But " why are we not seeing these thing ? " he enquire . It ’s possible that his squad got " unlucky , " Bernardinelli added , but the odds are long . ( The results of this survey have also not yet been peer - reviewed ) .
The bailiwick research worker are presently sorting through more recent data they have collected since their discovery , which they hope will confirm their finding . But if they come up empty handed there is a chance the New Horizons spacecraft could still find oneself these objects , after its current mission was broaden to the terminal of 2029 last week , Live Science ’s babe siteSpace.com reported .
