Nasa has announced that there is almost certainly not a giant, dark 'Nemesis' star lurking at the edge of our Solar System. <\/p>\n
\"Probably\". <\/p>\n
It has long been theorised - though only by a fringe of the astronomy community - that a massive, unseen celestial body exists beyond the orbit of Pluto. <\/p>\n
Known as 'Nemesis', or Planet X, the theories attempt to explain geological studies which suggest oddly regular mass extinctions on Earth. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Above: A nearby star stands out in red in this image from the Second Generation Digitized Sky Survey. <\/p>\n
The idea is that this large star or planet might occasionally rush through bands of comets at the edge of the solar system, and send them hurtling towards Earth. <\/p>\n
It's not a widely-held belief, though. And now a full-sky sweep by the space agency's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has found \"no evidence\" that such a thing exists. <\/p>\n
Nasa said it is now sure there is no object larger than Jupiter beyond Pluto to a distance of 26,000 'AU' (astronomical units) - where the distance to the Sun from Earth, or 93 million miles, is one AU. <\/p>\n
\"The outer solar system probably does not contain a large gas giant planet, or a small, companion star,\" said Kevin Luhman of the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds at Penn State University. <\/p>\n
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NASA: There Is 'Probably' No 'Nemesis' Death Star Beyond Pluto<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nasa has announced that there is almost certainly not a giant, dark 'Nemesis' star lurking at the edge of our Solar System. \"Probably\" Continue reading