News Astronomy

The Kuiper Belt’s dwarf planet Quaoar hosts an impossible ring

The ring lies outside a typical, mathematically determined distance from the small world

An illustration of the dwarf planet Quaoar.

Dwarf planet Quaoar, shown in this artist's illustration, is only the third small object in the solar system with a known ring.

Illustration Credit: NASA, G. Bacon/STScI; Science Credit: NASA, M. Brown/Caltech

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

The dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring that is too big for its metaphorical fingers.