I hypothesize that a huge, unknown, ultra-massive planet or dwarf star exists near the edge of the solar system - orbiting slowly around the sun at a distance of 7.2 billion miles. The theory is based on correlation of our factors - the location of the recently discovered 4.5 billion-mile-distant outer edge of the Kuiper Belt (which begins at Pluto's 3.7 billion-mile average distance from the sun and ends at 4.5 billion miles out) - the location of the more-recently discovered 8.7 billion-mile-distant outer edge of the solar system - plus the existence of a huge 4.2 billion-mile-wide void that stretches from the end of the Kuiper Belt to the edge of the solar system and Bode's Law (see below).

The Kuiper Belt contains trillions of strange dusty iceballs (some larger than Pluto) that are called KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects) that do not exist in the vast 4.2 billion-mile solar system void beyond the Kuiper Belt. Some astronomers think that a passing star's gravity was responsible for pulling out all the KBOs that formerly were orbiting in the void, but that can never be verified, because if it happened, it would have been an unseen one-shot occurrence in the past. My theory, if correct, can be proved, because it involves an orbiting planet that would eventually be found.

The fourth factor, Bode's Law, indicates that a planet exists way out in the solar system's great void beyond the Kuiper Belt. First published in 1766, Bode's Law contains a peculiar formula through which a set of numbers is derived that matches the distance from the sun of all the planets except Neptune.

The Bode formula is 2n plus four divided by 10 - where n = 0 for Planet #1, 3 for planet #2, and double the previous n value thereafter. No one, not even Bode, ever figured out how or why it works, which is why most astronomers disregard it as a meaningless oddity. But it works! The distance-unit used in Bode's Law is the AU, which is used to measure distances throughout the solar system. One AU (Astronomical Unit) equals 93 million miles, the distance between Earth and the sun.

The actual distances from the sun of all planets including Pluto (except Neptune), closely match the numbers derived from Bode's Law. In fact, when Uranus was discovered in 1781, it was found to be positioned where Bode's Law had predicted a planet beyond Saturn to be located. And in 1800, Bode's Law was used by astronomers to discover the trillions of asteroids located in the Asteroid Belt. I have always considered the Asteroid Belt to be made up of the remains of an exploded planet, because the Belt's metallic and rock fragments that reach us as meteorites correlate well with the chemistry of the sub-surface core and mantle zones of the earth.

When I became aware of the recently discovered locations of the outer boundaries of the Kuiper Belt and of the solar system, it was apparent that the great void separating the two boundaries could have been caused by a mega-massive planet that was orbiting within the void. When I used Bode's 240-year-old formula to calculate the Bode hypothetical distance from the sun to a possible planet located beyond Pluto, the Bode distance turned out to be 77.2AU, which is 7.2 billion miles and roughly near the center of the large void. A huge ultra-massive planet that has been orbiting there for millions or billions of years certainly could have gravitationally attracted all the KBOs that are missing from the enormous void.

New correct theories that counter existing concepts usually have difficulty in getting accepted because they don't conform to established perceptions. I have registered the new planet, which I've named Muriel, with the International Astronomical Union.