Haumea dwarf planet has a ring to it

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Move over Saturn! Scientists have found a ring around an unassuming mini-planet in our Solar System to debunk the theory that only giant planets can be so adorned.

The planet, dubbed Haumea, orbits the Sun far beyond Neptune—the eighth and furthest recognised "full" planet in our star system since Pluto was downgraded to dwarf status in 2006. About eight billion kilometres (five billion miles) from the Sun, Haumea spins rapidly on its own axis, and has a flattened, cigar-like shape. It takes 285 years to circle the Sun.

Named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth, it is among a handful of known dwarf planets beyond the orbit of Neptune, which with the other so-called giant planets—Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter—all have rings.

"Our discovery proves that there is a lot more diversity and imagination in our solar system than we had thought," study co-author Bruno Sicardy of the Paris Observatory told AFP.

The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

A ring system had previously been discovered around a centaur dubbed Chariklo. Centaurs, which have unstable orbits, are considered large comets, not planets, which means this is the first observation of a ring around a dwarf planet.