Boffin’s software found a possible dwarf planet – a result so rare he thought it must be a bug
A search through a decade of data has turned up a compelling candidate for the solar system’s sixth dwarf planet. The object, provisionally named 2026 ED138, was spotted by software built to match detections of moving objects. It’s unusually bright and distant—and scientists estimate it could be 600 to 1,500 kilometres wide. ED138 orbits about 46 times farther from the Sun than Earth does, beyond Pluto’s average distance. It may have gone unnoticed because it lies against the crowded glow of the Milky Way. If confirmed as a dwarf planet, it could be the smallest one yet found. How did astronomers uncover it among billions of stars? The answer offers a glimpse of the powerful sky-monitoring work underway at Chile’s Rubin Observatory.