Jun-ichi Watanabe

Hunting for a rare celestial phenomenon is like setting up a camera trap in a dense forest. In the fall of 2021, astronomers aimed a camera with high light sensitivity at the dome of the Subaru Telescope into the empty sky above Maunakea, trying to catch the predicted but elusive Arid meteor shower.

Astronomers have for the first time found an atmosphere on a small object (612533) 2002 XV93 in the Kuiper Belt. Previously, it was thought that only large bodies could retain gases, but this icy ball 250 km in diameter proved otherwise. The discovery forces a fresh look at the hidden activity of sm