Vera C Rubin Observatory detects candidate dwarf planet past Neptune

The Vera C Rubin Observatory has detected a potential dwarf planet designated 2026 ED138, Astronomy Magazine reported. The object orbits beyond Pluto and may be among the largest worlds ever found past Neptune. If official bodies confirm the discovery, it will become the sixth recognized dwarf planet in the solar system. [1]

Images from the observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope tracked the path of the icy candidate object. Astronomy Magazine reported that composite imagery traced its position across 20 nights between March and July 2026. [1]

Matthew Holman, a Rubin operations team member and senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian, works on the team analyzing the observations, according to Astronomy Magazine. As FTMQ Space reported earlier, scientists identified the distant icy world while processing data gathered by the survey telescope. [1][4]

The candidate object is currently one of the brightest and largest known bodies in that distant stretch of space. Further observations will determine whether 2026 ED138 meets the formal criteria for dwarf planet status. [1]