A groundbreaking discovery has been made by the newly operational Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, revealing a dwarf planet candidate, designated 2026 ED135, lurking in the outer solar system beyond Pluto’s orbit. This celestial body, estimated to be between 370 and 930 miles in diameter, could rank among the largest dwarf planets ever identified in this distant region. Astronomer Matthew Holman stumbled upon ED138 while analyzing data from the observatory’s powerful digital camera, noting its unusual brightness and distance, which suggested significant size. Currently situated approximately 4.3 billion miles from the sun, ED138 is classified as a trans-Neptunian object, orbiting beyond Neptune. Its detection was made possible by the Rubin Observatory’s comprehensive sky survey and advanced algorithms capable of sifting through the dense star fields near the Milky Way, an area that previously obscured such objects from view. If confirmed through further observations, ED138 will join a select group of dwarf planets, underscoring the ongoing revelations about our solar system’s vast and mysterious outer reaches, much like recent findings of meteorites containing ancient building blocks of life.
Adapted from: Travel News Today on Fox News
