Dwarf planets can have rings, too, if they're lumpy or oblate

All four giant planets in the solar system have rings. Saturn’s are the most obvious, of course, but Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune have them as well.

But they’re not alone. Two minor planets have rings made of countless icy particles as well. Their discovery was a shock to astronomers, because it wasn’t thought that smaller bodies could maintain a ring system. Nature, though, is more clever than we are, and found a way.

But how, exactly? Over time, rings tend to disperse without moons to shephe...