The solar system may have a new smallest dwarf planet: Hygiea
New images reveal the wee world is round, a final criterion for dwarf planet status
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/102519_MT_dwarf-planet_feat.jpg?fit=1028%2C579&ssl=1)
High-resolution telescope images reveal that the asteroid Hygiea (pictured) may not be an asteroid at all, but instead a dwarf planet — and the smallest one yet.
ESO/P. Vernazza et al./MISTRAL algorithm (ONERA/CNRS)