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Astronomers Matthew Holman and Kevin Napier identified an unusually bright object while analyzing data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. The object, designated 2026 ED138, orbits the sun roughly every 281 years at a distance about 46 times farther from the sun than Earth, and researchers confirmed its path using archival images dating back to 1937.
Astronomers using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile have identified a distant icy object, provisionally named 2026 ED138, orbiting about 46 astronomical units from the Sun. Based on its brightness and estimated reflectivity, researchers believe it measures between 600 and 1,500 km across, potentially making it the largest trans-Neptunian object found in two decades. The object was detected by Harvard astrophysicist Matthew Holman using a search code, then confirmed across 30 images spanning 20 nights, with older data tracing its path back to 2016.
Researchers at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, led by Matthew Holman, have identified a trans-Neptunian object called ED138 that may qualify as a dwarf planet. The object was first flagged by object-tracking software Holman wrote with Kevin Napier, then confirmed in archival data stretching back to 2016 using the Dark Energy Camera and the Asteroid Institute's precovery service. Preliminary estimates put ED138's diameter between 600 and 1,500 kilometers, within the range needed for gravity to pull it into a round shape.
Harvard-Smithsonian researcher Matthew Holman spotted a trans-Neptunian object, designated ED138, on October 13 while reviewing 2026 data from the Rubin Observatory. Follow-up analysis of archival images traced the object's path back more than a decade to 2016, though its exact size and shape remain unconfirmed.
Astronomers at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile announced detection of an object, provisionally named 2026 ED138, orbiting about 4.3 billion miles from the Sun, roughly 46 times Earth's distance. Early estimates put its diameter between 370 and 930 miles, and its orbit is tilted 25 degrees from the plane most planets follow. If confirmed, it would be the first new dwarf planet classified since the International Astronomical Union set the category's rules in 2006.
Astronomers using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have identified a trans-Neptunian object called 2026 ED138, located about 46 times farther from the Sun than Earth and estimated at 600 to 1,500 kilometers wide. Researchers Matthew Holman and Kevin Napier found it using a new search code, then traced additional sightings back to 2016 to map its orbit, which is tilted roughly 25 degrees from the solar system's plane.
Two decades after the International Astronomical Union voted in 2006 to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet, a vocal group of scientists, historians and enthusiasts continue to push back against that decision. Critics like Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida argue the IAU's planetary definition is scientifically unworkable, while others such as writer Laurel Kornfeld have campaigned against the ruling since the day it was announced. The dispute remains largely an American phenomenon, tied partly to national pride since Pluto was discovered by a US astronomer in 1930.
It has been two decades since the International Astronomical Union voted in August 2006 to strip Pluto of its planetary status, reclassifying it as a dwarf planet after astronomers discovered a similarly sized object, later named Eris, in 2005. The decision remains contentious, with figures like NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and actor William Shatner recently arguing Pluto deserves to be called a planet again.