Meet The Solar System's Newest Dwarf Planet!

Meet RR245, our solar system's newest known dwarf planet!

Scientists discovered RR245 using the Canada-France-Hawaii (CFH) telescope earlier this year, and the International Astronomical Union announced its discovery earlier this week.

While this dwarf planet may sound tiny at an estimated 435 miles (700 km) across, it's actually the largest object the OSSOS (Outer Solar System Origin Survey) team has found outside the Kuiper Belt so far.

But it might end up being much bigger or much smaller. Scientists are waiting for the assumed dwarf planet to pass in front of a star so they can ascertain its real size. This will also help them gather more information about what the dwarf planet is made of and whether it has any moons.

One of the reasons it has taken us so long to find RR245 is that it has a 700-year orbit around the sun. At its furthest, RR245 is over 12 billion miles (19 million km) or 128 Astronomical units (AU) from the sun. At its closest, it is a mere 34 AU. RR245 will be at its closest relatively soon, in 2092.