Reuters– Scientists using a Chile-based telescope have identified an icy object orbiting beyond Pluto that may join our solar system’s small roster of dwarf planets.
Researchers said the candidate, named 2026 ED138, has a diameter estimated at between roughly 370 and 930 miles (600 and 1,500 km) and is orbiting about 46 times farther from the sun than Earth. By way of comparison, Pluto orbits at an average of about 40 times farther from the sun than Earth.
The object was spotted using the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on the summit of the Cerro Pachón mountain in central Chile. The telescope is a joint initiative of the US National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy.
Further observations are needed to confirm that the object is a dwarf planet.
Read more- at the source
