A Whole New World

PASADENA, Calif.--A planet larger than Pluto has been discovered in the outlying regions of the solar system with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory, California Institute of Technology planetary scientist Mike Brown announced today.

The planet is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine planets already known means that it can only be classified as a planet, Brown says. Currently about 97 astronomical units from the sun (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth), the planet becomes the farthest-known object in the solar system, and the third brightest of the Kuiper belt objects.

Dr. Mike Brown, one of three scientists who made the discovery, was born and raised right here in Huntsville, Alabama. Brown was also part of the team that discovered the planetoid Sedna in 2003. The discoverers have proposed a name for the new planet, but they are waiting on approval by the International Astronomical Union before making it public.