Eris is a dwarf planet discovered in 2005. It is the most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, and the ninth-most-massive body known to orbit the Sun directly. It is located in the scattered disc, a distant circumstellar disc beyond the Kuiper belt. Eris was discovered in January 2005 by a Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown, and its identity was verified later that year.