images

Planet Nine - Artwork

by

Don Dixon/Novapix

Reference

a-sys11-90006

Date

2017-11-16

A hypothetical planet in the outer reaches of the solar system orbits more than 700 times farther from the sun than earth does. A super-Earth, with an estimated mass of 10 Earths (approximately 5,000 times the mass of Pluto), a diameter two to four times that of Earth, and a highly elliptical orbit with an orbital period of approximately 15,000 years, the planet is shown as a ringed ice giant whose night side is illuminated by lightning and aurorae powered by galactic cosmic rays.