Astronomers identify giant icy world beyond Pluto as potential sixth dwarf planet
University of Washington astronomers announced the discovery of a massive new object named 2026 ED138 that may become the solar system's sixth dwarf planet.
Discovery confirmed by Rubin Observatory team
Matthew Holman from Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics identified the object on October 13 using data from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Mario Jurić, a University of Washington professor, gathered additional evidence to verify the finding. The team used specialized software developed with Kevin Napier to search for unidentified objects moving through the solar system. Holman realized the object's brightness and distance indicated something unusually large during his initial analysis.
Object ranks among largest found recently
Early estimates suggest 2026 ED138 is roughly 1,000 kilometers across and lies approximately 46 astronomical units from the Sun. This size makes it one of the largest dwarf planet candidates ever found beyond Neptune in about twenty years. The object was hidden for years in a crowded region of the night sky before detection. Historical records from other surveys provided images dating back to 2016 to help reconstruct its orbital motion.
Future observations will determine official status
The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes five dwarf planets including Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake. If confirmed, ED138 would join this very small family of worlds in the outer solar system. The Rubin telescope will image the southern sky again for ten years to find other hidden objects. Any others hiding in places earlier surveys skipped are now within reach for future detection.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.