The universe has 10 times more galaxies than scientists thought

There are almost 10 times more galaxies in the universe than we once thought, according to a new analysis by Hubble Space Telescope. Counting all the galaxies in the universe is hard. So hard, it seems, that it's possible to miss billions of them.

The new analysis shows that there are about 2 trillion of them, up from about 200 billion.

It's the first major revision to the number since 1995, when scientists turned Hubble's gaze on one section of sky for 10 days and created an image, unveiled in 1996, that NASA called "mankind's deepest, most detailed optical view of the universe."

Based on the single section of sky and the galaxies that showed up in it, astronomers extrapolated that the entire universe should have about 200 billion galaxies. But that far from settled the question. Twenty years later, the new analysis begins by noting that the number of galaxies in the universe is still "a fundamental question."

The study was led by Christopher Conselice of the University of Nottingham and accepted for publication in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

To know more about the study, click here.

Our solar system may soon have a ninth planet

Researchers from the University of Michigan have recently discovered a new planet that exists in our solar system. This newly discovered "dwarf" planet, dubbed as 2014 UZ224 is just beyond the orbit of Pluto. Astronomers believe that the solar system may soon have a ninth planet.

The newly discovered planet, 2014 UZ224 is approximately 330 miles across, which is much smaller than Ceres, another dwarf planet which has a diameter is 580 miles. This makes the new planet remarkably small and it also fits the definition of a dwarf planet, as considered by NASA.

Scientists are still not sure about the exact orbital path of this new dwarf planet but they believe that a single orbit around the sun would be roughly 1100 Earth years. Moreover, the distance of the new dwarf planet and the Sun is approximately 8.5 billion miles.

The team of researchers from the University of Michigan, led by David Gerdes found this new dwarf planet, using "Dark Energy Camera (DECam)," a specialized camera that Gerdes developed. The scientific community is hopeful that this specialized camera will explain the role of dark energy that is leading to an accelerated expansion of the universe.

So far, five dwarf planets have been recognized in the solar system, namely, Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake. But, scientists feel that there are more out there that are yet to be discovered.

It was previously believed that beyond Pluto, the solar system is composed of icy small objects. But now studies emphasise that the area houses a ninth planet that is much larger than the Earth.

According to astronomer Mike Brown who discovered Eris in collaboration with Konstantin Batygin, the orbital discrepancy beyond Neptune is due to the presence of an unseen planet that is about 10 times the size of Earth.

To read more, click here.