Vera C. Rubin Observatory Discovers a Dwarf Planet Candidate
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On October 28, 2026, astronomers reported the discovery of the object 2026 ED138—the first dwarf planet candidate found by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. It is located in the Kuiper Belt, and its orbit lies at distances from the Sun where Pluto orbits.
The team tracked the object in 30 observations by the observatory over 20 nights, from March 4 to July 11, 2026. Astronomers then found it in archival images from the Dark Energy Camera, dating back to February 2016. These data helped determine its orbit: it takes about 281 years to complete one revolution around the Sun.
ED138’s diameter is estimated at 600–1,500 km. The range is wide because brightness depends not only on size but also on the reflectivity of the surface, which is not yet known. At this size, the object may be massive enough for its own gravity to give it an approximately spherical shape, but its status as a dwarf planet still needs to be confirmed by further observations, especially in the infrared.
Image: NASA Hubble CC BY 2.0 · License
Translation editor: Ловушкин А.
Source: www.sciencealert.com ↗