Vera C. Rubin Observatory

“Using this method, Holman uncovered ED138, and he immediately noticed that its brightness and distance indicated that it is unusually large,”

Vera C. Rubin Observatory · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-02

The observatory's statement described how astronomer Matthew Holman spotted ED138 using software he developed with colleague Kevin Napier.

“If confirmed, ED138 would be among the largest dwarf planets ever discovered in this region of the Solar System,”

Vera C. Rubin Observatory · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-02

The observatory issued a statement about the newly identified dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138.

“Rubin Observatory’s regular and continuous monitoring of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky, combined with powerful algorithms that sift through millions to billions of points of light to identify those corresponding to small moving objects, enabled the team to spot ED138 within the crowded field,”

Vera C. Rubin Observatory · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-02

The observatory's statement explained how its continuous sky monitoring and algorithms enabled the team to detect ED138 in a crowded field near the Milky Way.