Astronomers have long speculated about the existence of a hidden planet in our solar system. Now, a new study proposes a fresh candidate, dubbed Planet Y, that could be influencing the orbits of icy objects in the distant Kuiper Belt— a vast, icy region beyond Neptune.

The planet hasn’t been directly observed. Instead, its possible presence is inferred from a puzzling tilt in the orbits of about 50 Kuiper Belt objects, far beyond Neptune’s reach. According to lead author Amir Siraj, an astrophysicist and a doctoral candidate in the department of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, the study doesn’t confirm a new planet but presents a mystery that a small, unseen planet could explain, CNN reported.

“One explanation is the presence of an unseen planet, probably smaller than the

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