Matthew Holman
ON THE RECORD · 7 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“This is an object that’s actually bright enough that really capable amateurs can see it,”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman noted that the newly discovered dwarf planet candidate is bright enough for capable amateur astronomers to observe.
“Once we really know its size, then we can make a much more clear statement about whether this is a dwarf planet or not,”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman said additional telescope imaging is needed to confirm the size and determine whether the object is truly a dwarf planet.
“This has an eight-meter mirror, which is one of the largest in the world, and that allows the Rubin telescope to collect a lot of light in a relatively short amount of time, allowing us to see ... quite faint objects,”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman described the Vera C. Rubin Observatory telescope's eight-meter mirror and its ability to collect light rapidly to detect faint objects.
“So it sort of demonstrates that we have not found all of the treasures in our solar system yet.”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman said the discovery shows there are still undiscovered objects remaining in the solar system.
“So it could either be a very reflective object that’s smaller or a very dark object that’s bigger.”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman explained that the object's observed brightness could correspond to either a small reflective body or a larger dark one.
“The other thing that really makes the Vera C. Rubin Observatory unique is it has an enormous field of view.”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman highlighted the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's enormous field of view as a unique feature.
“We don’t really know its size because all we can see is how much light we’re getting from it,”
Matthew Holman · said 2026-10-27 · reported 2026-10-27
Holman explained that the size of the newly discovered dwarf planet candidate cannot be directly determined from observations.