Dwarf planet discovered in the Kuiper belt

Science News : The number of dwarf planets orbiting the Sun just increased by one. Called 2015 RR245, it was first observed in February as a slow-moving dot of light beyond Neptune in images captured last September by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Researchers with the Outer Solar System Origins Survey have determined that it is probably about 700 km in size and travels a highly elliptical orbit—one of the largest orbits of any of the known dwarf planets. Planets that travel so far from the Sun can be interesting to study because of their exotic geology and frozen landscapes and because they can provide details of the early conditions of the solar system. Just five dwarf planets have been officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union, but the actual number of dwarf planets in the solar system may exceed 10 000.