> Another factor that kept ED138 hidden is that it is on the same plane as our galaxy. “For the last 20 years, the object has kind of been looping its way across the Milky Way, from our point of view,” Holman explained. “People don’t typically search for things in the Milky Way, because there’s so many stars that it’s really hard to find moving objects.” [1]

This thing was actually found despite its location, not because of it. If it had been in the opposite part of the sky we almost certainly would have spotted it sooner, given that it's one of the brightest TNOs we've discovered.

We're finding it now because Vera Rubin (the instrument that found it) just came online and is exceptionally good at finding these kinds of objects specifically, even when they're hiding amidst a dense population of stationary background stars.

[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/28/science/ed138-dwarf-plane...