Ring discovered around 'potato-shaped' dwarf planet Haumea


A ring system has been found around a dwarf planet for the first time — the distant, potato-shaped Haumea,
which lies beyond Neptune.

Key points:

  • Haumea is a dwarf planet that orbits in the outer solar system, roughly 6.4 billion kilometres from the Sun
  • Scientists have detected a dense, dark ring of debris around it
  • The discovery suggests rings around celestial bodies may be more common than previously thought


Haumea, first discovered in 2004, is one of five dwarf planets: large objects like Pluto, mostly in the outer solar system,
which are not quite significant enough for planetary status.

It is known for its peculiar and rapid rotation, spinning end-over-end once every four hours.


But the discovery of Haumea's ring, reported today in the journal Nature, is another surprise for scientists.

"This is the first time a ring around a dwarf planet has been discovered, so it is a really very peculiar, unexpected and weird finding,"
said the paper's co-author, Dr Pablo Santos-Sanz from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía.

The ring appears to be dense and dark, blocking out about half of the light that passes through it to Earth.
It's 70 kilometres wide and lies about 1,000 kilometres away from Haumea's surface.

Here