Possible new world beyond Pluto & Hera sees its asteroid targets - Space News (Oct 28, 2026)

Astronomers may have found one of the largest hidden worlds beyond Pluto—and it could eventually join the Solar System’s small family of officially recognized dwarf planets. Welcome to The Automated Daily, space news edition. The podcast created by generative AI. I’m TrendTeller. Today is October 28th, 2026. We’ll begin in our own cosmic neighborhood, before moving outward to an interstellar visitor, an atmosphere that should not have survived, the remains of a dead planetary system, and a few unusual possibilities at the edge of modern physics.

Possible new world beyond Pluto

Our first story comes from the distant outskirts of the Solar System. Astronomers working with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have identified a large, icy object beyond Pluto. For now, it carries the provisional designation 2026 ED138, and scientists are calling it a dwarf planet candidate rather than a confirmed dwarf planet. Early estimates leave plenty of uncertainty about its exact size, but its brightness suggests it could rank among the largest objects found in this remote region. The discovery is notable not only for the object itself, but also for what it says about Rubin Observatory. Its main sky survey is designed to repeatedly scan enormous areas of the heavens, making it particularly good at catching faint objects that slowly change position. ED138 may therefore be an early sign that the outer Solar System still has major discoveries waiting for us. [54][55]

Hera sees its asteroid targets

Staying with nearby small worlds, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has now distinguished the two asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos as separate bodies for the first time. Until this latest image, the pair appeared to Hera as one unresolved point of light. Dimorphos is especially important because it was struck by NASA’s DART spacecraft in 2022, deliberately changing its orbit around Didymos. That experiment showed that a spacecraft impact could alter an asteroid’s motion. Hera’s job is to examine the aftermath in detail and turn that successful demonstration into a better-understood planetary-defense technique. Seeing both bodies separately confirms that the spacecraft is closing in and that its camera can begin following the system directly. The image is modest, but it marks a meaningful transition from navigating toward a distant target to studying the actual site of humanity’s first asteroid-deflection test. [195]

Interstellar comet carries familiar ice

Next, the James Webb Space Telescope has examined material flowing from 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed interstellar object ever observed passing through our Solar System. Webb detected very small grains containing water ice mixed with dark, rocky dust. That ice looks different from the relatively clean ice found in many familiar comets. Surprisingly, however, its signature resembles material seen on some icy bodies beyond Neptune. This creates an intriguing connection between an object born around another star and ancient material preserved in our own outer Solar System. One comet cannot reveal how every planetary system forms, but the resemblance suggests that distant systems may build icy worlds from a familiar range of ingredients. Interstellar objects offer rare physical samples of other star systems, even though we can only examine them remotely as they race past. In this case, the visitor appears foreign and familiar at the same time. [136][149]

Lava planet keeps surprising atmosphere

Webb has also delivered a surprise from a much hotter destination. TOI-561 b is a rocky exoplanet so close to its star that its surface is thought to contain molten rock. Astronomers would normally expect radiation from the star to strip such a world of its atmosphere over time. Instead, observations indicate that TOI-561 b may possess a substantial atmosphere that reflects a remarkable amount of incoming light and moves heat away from the permanently illuminated side. One possible explanation is a layer of mineral clouds formed from vaporized rock. In effect, those clouds could act as a planetary sunscreen, leaving the dayside cooler than a bare surface would be. This is not a potentially habitable planet; its environment is far too extreme. Its importance lies in challenging assumptions about how long rocky planets can retain atmospheres. If an atmosphere can survive here, atmospheric evolution around other close-orbiting worlds may be more varied than current models suggest. [61][64]

Planets survive a star’s death

Another planetary system is showing astronomers what can remain after a star reaches the end of its life. The white dwarf J1328−1450 is surrounded by two distinct rings of gaseous debris with a gap between them. Researchers think the structure is being maintained by two surviving planetary bodies moving on separate paths around the stellar remnant. One of those bodies may be comparable in scale to a dwarf planet. White dwarfs are the dense cores left behind when stars like the Sun shed their outer layers. That transition can destroy planets, throw them into new orbits, or grind smaller objects into debris. The newly observed double-ring system suggests the aftermath can remain surprisingly organized. It also offers a distant preview of the Solar System’s very long-term future. The Sun will not become a white dwarf for billions of years, but systems like this show that even after a star’s dramatic transformation, some planetary bodies can survive and continue shaping what remains. [91][101]

Webb finds distant ring galaxy

Far beyond the local universe, Webb has found the most distant known ring galaxy. Named GS18660, it is seen as it existed only about two billion years after the Big Bang. A bright ring filled with young stars surrounds the galaxy, and the leading explanation is that a smaller companion passed through it, compressing gas and setting off a wave of star formation. Astronomers have also detected a possible companion and a bridge of gas connecting the two, although more observations will be needed to confirm the full story. Ring galaxies are uncommon in the nearby universe, so finding one this early in cosmic history suggests that dramatic, direct collisions were already producing complex structures when the universe was still young. The discovery gives researchers another way to test how quickly galaxies assembled, interacted, and transformed during that formative era. [76][88]

Could black holes split apart

Finally, a theoretical study has considered a process that sounds like the reverse of a familiar cosmic event. We know that two black holes can merge. The new calculations ask whether one black hole could instead split into two. Under normal conditions, the answer remains no: the laws governing energy, rotation, and black-hole entropy strongly oppose the process. The researchers did, however, identify a very narrow possible exception. A black hole rotating close to the maximum rate permitted by physics might divide while giving the resulting pair enough motion to separate rather than immediately merge again. This is a mathematical possibility, not an observed event, and the researchers have not shown that nature actually produces such divisions. Still, the work is useful because it tests the boundaries of black-hole physics. Even an extreme loophole can reveal where established theories remain firm and where deeper ideas about gravity may eventually be needed. [150][156]

That’s the space news for October 28th, 2026. Today’s discoveries ranged from a possible new dwarf planet in our own Solar System to an ancient galaxy shaped by collision, with several reminders that the universe often resists simple expectations. You’ve been listening to The Automated Daily, space news edition, the podcast created by generative AI. I’m TrendTeller. Thanks for listening.

Possible new world beyond Pluto & Hera sees its asteroid targets - Space News (Oct 28, 2026)

Our Sponsors

Today's Space News Topics