A planet, possibly four times the mass of Jupiter and with a lunar system, could be lurking in our solar system's outermost area, two US scientists theorize。

　　University of Louisiana researchers said if "Tyche" exists, the confirmed number of planets in our solar system would return to nine, with Pluto remaining a dwarf planet, DiscoveryNews.com reported Wednesday。

　　Astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire analyzed comets passing through the inner solar system, discovering many of them had strange orbits。

　　The scientists said they believe the comets' orbits could be affected by the potential mystery planet, composed of hydrogen and helium, likely sucked into our solar system after being formed around another star。

　　Matese and Whitmire have been trying to track down Tyche's existence since 1999, but the majority of the astronomical community hasn't expressed confidence about Tyche's existence, DiscoveryNews.com said。

　　Ned Wright, principal investigator for NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, told DiscoveryNews the theory behind Tyche is based on "ordinary evidence for an extraordinary claim."

　　兩位美國科學家推斷太陽系的遙遠邊際還可能存在一顆星球，它大概是木星體積的四倍，擁有自己的衛(wèi)星系統(tǒng)。

　　《發(fā)現(xiàn)新聞》網(wǎng)站周三報道，路易斯安娜大學的研究者稱如果這顆稱為"堤喀"的星球真的存在，加上冥王星這個矮行星，太陽系的星球數(shù)量將變?yōu)?顆。

　　天體物理學家約翰?馬特斯和丹尼爾?惠特米爾分析了太陽系內(nèi)部的彗星運轉(zhuǎn)，發(fā)現(xiàn)許多彗星的運行軌道都非常奇特。

　　科學家們稱他們認為彗星軌道可能受到這顆未知星球的影響，這顆星球主要由氫氣和氦氣組成，可能在另一顆星球旁形成后被吸入太陽系。

　　這家網(wǎng)站報道稱馬特斯和惠特米爾自從1999年以來一直試圖證明堤喀的存在，但大部分天文界人士對它的存在將信將疑。

　　美國宇航局大視場紅外巡天探測者計劃的主要調(diào)查者內(nèi)德?萊特對《發(fā)現(xiàn)新聞》說這項關(guān)于堤喀的理論是基于"大膽的設(shè)想和實在的證據(jù)"。