Home / Science / New Dwarf Planet Discovered: Rivals Pluto's Size?
New Dwarf Planet Discovered: Rivals Pluto's Size?
10 Nov
Summary
- A potential new dwarf planet, 2026 ED138, has been detected.
- If confirmed, it could rank among the largest dwarf planets ever found.
- The object was discovered using a telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
Astronomers have detected a celestial object, provisionally named 2026 ED138, that shows potential to be classified as a dwarf planet. This newly spotted body, observed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, has an estimated diameter ranging from 600 to 1,500 kilometers. Its potential size could place it among the largest dwarf planets discovered in our solar system.
The International Astronomical Union defines dwarf planets as celestial bodies orbiting the sun that possess enough gravity to achieve a round shape but do not clear their orbital path of debris. Pluto, reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, resides in the trans-Neptunian region, a zone where other objects can intersect its orbit.
If 2026 ED138 is confirmed as a dwarf planet, it will join a group that includes Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres. Astrophysicist Matt Holman, who first identified 2026 ED138, expressed excitement about the ongoing discoveries possible with observatories like Rubin. Future research will utilize advanced instruments such as the ALMA telescope to gather more data, particularly by detecting the object's emitted light, which is crucial for accurately measuring its size.
