Is there a hidden world in our Solar System?

Scientists believe there are planets beyond Pluto (pictured) in our Solar System

Astronomers say they have evidence that there may be a hidden planet in our Solar System.

Named 'Planet Y', the Earth-sized world is thought to be at the very edge of the Solar System.

The research is the latest in a number of suggestions of unidentified planets which lie beyond Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto.

Neptune is the eighth and most distant known planet from the Sun.

Why do astronomers think there is a Planet Y?

This latest study, published in the science journal arXiv, says a warping effect which was picked up in the orbits of some Kuiper belt objects suggests an undiscovered planet.

According to astrophysicist Amir Siraj from Princeton University in the US, who led the research into Planet Y, the gravity of this world could be moving nearby objects, tilting orbits out of alignment.

Planet Y is still just a possibility and has not been confirmed.

Researchers hope that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory which is about to embark on an ambitious 10-year project to map the night sky, could confirm Planet Y's existence.

What other potential hidden planets are there in our Solar System?

Artist's concept of a hypothetical Planet 9 orbiting far from the Sun

Most famous of the suspected hidden planets is Planet X or Planet Nine, a world around five to 10 times bigger in mass than Earth.

If it exists, experts believe the planet could help explain the unique orbits of some smaller objects in the distant Kuiper Belt.

According to Nasa, the Kuiper Belt is a region of icy debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Amir Siraj at Princeton University and his colleagues now say they have evidence of a new planet which they have chosen to call Planet Y.

None of the planets have proper names because their existence has not been confirmed.