Vulcan (hypothetical planet) Vulcan (hypothetical planet) Vulcan is a small hypothetical planet that was proposed to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun. Attempting to explain peculiarities of Mercury's orbit, the 19th-century French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier hypothesized that they were the result of another planet, which he named "Vulcan". A number of reputable investigators became involved in the search for Vulcan, and despite occasional claimed observations, no such planet was ever confirmed. Peculiarities in Mercury's orbit have now been explained by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Searches of data gathered by NASA's two "STEREO" spacecraft have failed to find
Planet potential "rogue planets" are excluded. In the Solar System, all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction as the Sun rotates (counter-clockwise as seen from above the Sun's north pole). At least one extrasolar planet, WASP-17b, has been found to orbit in the opposite direction to its star's rotation. The period of one revolution of a planet's orbit is known as its sidereal period or "year". A planet's year depends on its distance from its star; the farther a planet is from its star, not only the longer the distance it must travel, but also the slower its