Ring 💍 discovered around dwarf planet beyond Neptune

Astronomers made an unexpected discovery about Haumea, a mysterious dwarf planet on the edge of our solar system.

"It is the first time a ring has been discovered around a trans-Neptunean object (an object further away from the sun than Neptune)," Jose Luis Ortiz, researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), whose study of Haumea was published in "Nature" on Wednesday, said in a press release.

"It may have originated in a collision with another object, or in the dispersal of surface material due to the planet's high rotational speed."

Haumea has two moons, and is one of four dwarf planets located in the belt of ice and rocks beyond Neptune, more than 50 times farther from the sun than Earth.

UCJ, UNILORIN.