Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology announced Wednesday that they have found new evidence of a giant icy planet lurking in the darkness of our solar system far beyond the orbit of Pluto.<br />They are calling it "Planet Nine."<br />Their paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, describes the planet as about five to 10 times as massive as the Earth.<br />Telescopes on at least two continents are searching for the object, which on average is 20 times farther away than the eighth planet, Neptune.<br />Confirmation of its existence would reconfigure the models of the solar system.<br />Pluto, discovered in 1930, spent three-quarters of a century as the iconic ninth planet.
