The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has found what might be a tiny new world in the far reaches of our solar system, hidden beyond the orbit of Neptune — and it is among the largest and brightest objects ever discovered beyond Neptune.
If confirmed, the miniature world would increase the number of officially recognized solar system dwarf planets to six. Upper estimates of the object's size place it at more than half the diameter of Pluto, the largest known dwarf planet.
"My first reaction was one of excited disbelief," Matthew Holman, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and member of the Rubin team who wrote the code that helped discover the prospective dwarf planet, said in a statement. "Objects like this are very rare, so I immediately started checking whether I or the code had done something wrong."
Hidden among stars
The potential dwarf planet, designated Read Entire Article
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