NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A powerful new telescope has discovered a dwarf planet candidate beyond Pluto, and scientists say it could be among the largest of its kind ever found in the far reaches of our solar system. The discovery, announced on October 27, was made using observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a newly operational facility located on a mountaintop in Chile. The observatory, jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, began its 10-year study of the sky in June 2026, using the world’s largest digital camera to search for never-before-seen objects. TREASURE HUNTER MAKES GOLD WITH 1,000-YEAR-OLD DISCOVERY LINKED TO THE ‘HAND OF GOD’ Researchers identified the object as 2026 ED138. They estimated that it measures between 600 and 1,500 kilometers in diameter. “If confirmed, ED138 would be among the largest dwarf planets ever discovered in this region of the Solar System,” the observatory said in a statement. A recently discovered dwarf planet candidate beyond Pluto could be among the largest objects of its kind in the distant solar system. (NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA) On October 13, astronomer Matthew Holman was using software he developed with colleague Kevin Napier to search through telescope data collected earlier this year when he detected the object. “Using this method, Holman discovered ED138 and immediately noted that its brightness and distance indicated that it is unusually large,” the observatory said. OWNER OF MASSIVE 1,000-YEAR-OLD TREASURE In a statement, Holman described his reaction as “excited disbelief.” He added: “Objects like this are very rare, so I immediately started checking to see if I or the code had done something wrong.” The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, seen above, is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. (Vera C. Rubin Observatory/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images) ED138 is currently about 4.3 billion miles from the sun, farther away than Pluto, which orbits the sun at an average distance of about 3.7 billion miles. Scientists classify ED138 as a trans-Neptunian object, meaning it orbits the sun beyond Neptune, the farthest planet in our solar system. LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER As for why the object had not been discovered before, officials said it was hidden in a crowded region of the sky near the Milky Way, where millions of stars made it difficult for previous telescopes to detect. “Rubin Observatory’s regular and continuous monitoring of the entire southern hemisphere sky, combined with powerful algorithms that examine millions to billions of points of light to identify those corresponding to small moving objects, allowed the team to detect ED138 within the crowded field,” added statement. Scientists have discovered a new dwarf planet candidate (not pictured) beyond Pluto, seen here on the right next to one of its moons. The newly identified object could be among the largest ever found in the distant solar system. (NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI via Getty Images) Looking ahead, scientists hope to conduct more observations of ED138 to determine its exact size and whether it qualifies as a dwarf planet. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWS “If confirmed as a dwarf planet, ED138 would join a very small family of worlds,” Holman said in a statement. “Rubin will image the entire southern sky over and over again for 10 years, so any others hidden in places that were previously missed are now within our reach.” The newly identified dwarf planet candidate is among several recent discoveries that shed light on the mysteries of our solar system. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that orbits the sun and is large enough to be almost round; However, unlike a full-sized planet, it shares its orbital region with other objects that it has not gravitationally removed. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Pluto was considered the ninth planet in our solar system after its discovery in 1930, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. The newly discovered dwarf planet candidate is located approximately 4.3 billion miles from the sun, farther away than Pluto. (NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA) The newly identified dwarf planet candidate is among several recent discoveries that shed light on the mysteries of our solar system. Earlier this year, scientists revealed that a meteorite that crashed into the roof of a New Jersey home in 2024 contained some of the chemical building blocks of life and was among the rarest space rocks ever recovered. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPAt the time, researchers said the meteorite contained material dating back more than 4.5 billion years.
