NOIRLab

NSF–DOE @VRubinObs Discovers New Dwarf Planet Candidate in Our Solar System

The candidate, provisionally designated 2026 ED138, was found by scientists working to improve Rubin's algorithms that search for distant moving objects in our Solar System.

🔗 ow.ly/geta5101uaH

Say “cheese,” all 230 of you. 📸

The Antlia Cluster is a group of 230+ galaxies, 130 million light-years away. This image was captured with DECam on the NSF Blanco Telescope.

Nobody blinked.

📷: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Colombari & M. Zamani

The Colors of the Cosmos

🌀The bluer the star, the higher its temperature
⚫An interstellar cloud so dense & cold that light cannot pass through
❤️A color created by ionized hydrogen gas in areas of active star formation
✨A tone created by older stellar populations

POV: You step away from work for 1 min, and this is your view 🏔️☀️

This is the view from the top of NSF–DOE @VRubinObs on Cerro Pachón, Chile. The dome of the NSF Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope is also visible.

📷 NSF–DOE @VRubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

Clean your room, NGC 4753. There’s dust everywhere. 🧹🌌

About 1.3 billion years ago, NGC 4753 merged with a smaller galaxy, leaving behind the dark, tangled dust lanes seen here.

📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Miller, M. Rodriguez, M. Zamani