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A New Dwarf Planet May Be Hiding Beyond Neptune

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Surprisingly, our solar system still has a few secrets for us to uncover. For a long time, Pluto was the undisputed king of the outer edge of our cosmic neighborhood. But now it seems it may soon have to share the spotlight. Why? Because astronomers just identified a mysterious object located far beyond Neptune (our outermost planet). The newly discovered body, named 2026 ED138, was spotted using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.

It might not sound like much to find a new rock in the sky, but the discovery is a big deal. Scientists estimate this distant world is about 46 astronomical units (au) from the sun, which is farther out than Pluto, at just 40 au; they also noted it could be anywhere from about 370 to 970 miles in diameter, which would make it one of the largest objects ever found in that region. But if it's so big, why did it take so long to find?

Simply put, the answer is galactic camouflage.…

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