Artistic concept of Haumea and its ring system

It’s not just Saturn and gas giants such as Uranus which have rings in our solar system – as a tiny dwarf planet has just been spotted with its very own.

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It’s the first dwarf planet beyond Neptune to be spotted with its own ring – and could prove that such rings are not uncommon in the outer solar system.

Astronomers spotted the ring by measuring Haumea’s size, shape and density as it passed in front of a distant star.

The mysterious icy world was only discovered in 2004.


It’s the first time a ring has been spotted around a distant body in the solar system.

Haumea

Darker than the dwarf planet’s surface it is only about 43.5 miles (70 km) wide. It lies in the same plane as the equator and has a radius of about 1,421 miles (2,287 km).



Haumea spins incredibly fast: this is the reason for its strange shape – which has been likened to an elongated egg or flattened rugby ball.

The researchers also discovered the ring’s orbital period is three times Haumea’s spin period which – at less than four hours – is one of the quickest known.

Dr Jose-Luis Ortiz, of The Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain, said: ‘That is, Haumea rotates three times on its axis in the time that a ring particle completes one revolution.’

‘Haumea – one of the four known trans-Neptunian dwarf planets – is a very elongated and rapidly rotating body.

Dr Amanda Sickafoose, a planetary astronomer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who reviewed the findings for the journal, ‘Haumea is 50 times further from earth than is the Sun.

‘The authors’ discovery prompts speculation that ring systems in the outer solar system are not uncommon and that we can anticipate more discoveries in this region.’