Vera Rubin Observatory detects potential new dwarf planet beyond Pluto

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has detected a bright object in the outer solar system that may be a new dwarf planet, Live Science reported on October 29, 2026. The candidate object orbits the Sun on an inclined plane beyond the orbit of Pluto. [1]

A dwarf planet is defined as a celestial body that orbits the Sun and maintains a nearly round shape through hydrostatic equilibrium, but has not cleared its orbital neighborhood of other material. The International Astronomical Union established this category in 2006, when it reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. [2][4]

Astronomers have searched for planetary-mass objects past Neptune since the mid-nineteenth century, following Neptune's discovery in 1846. Percival Lowell famously proposed searching for a large unseen body to explain apparent gravitational perturbations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. [3]

Gravitationally rounded objects in the solar system range from planetary-mass dwarf planets and moons to major planets and the Sun. If confirmed by further observations, the new body discovered by the observatory would join the existing recognized dwarf planets in the outer solar system. [1][2]