Icy body find bolsters claims for 10th planet

CLAIMS that the sun has a 10th planet have been bolstered by the discovery that an icy body found on the edge of the solar system is bigger than Pluto.

Astronomers announced the existence of the object, UB313, last summer. Since then, debate has raged over whether it really is a planet or a frozen comet.

The object is one of about 100,000 icy bodies that lie in a ring known as the Kuiper Belt on the outer fringe of the Solar System.