"Shape-shifting Centaur: Icy Object's Rings Undergo Astonishing Transformation"

1 min read
Source: Space.com
"Shape-shifting Centaur: Icy Object's Rings Undergo Astonishing Transformation"
Photo: Space.com
TL;DR Summary

The Centaur object 2060 Chiron, a captured cometary object that orbits between Jupiter and Neptune, has been found to have a transforming disk of dust around it that changes shape and can mimic rings. Observations during stellar occultations in 2011 and 2018 revealed the presence of dusty material at different distances from Chiron's center, suggesting an evolving system rather than stable rings. Another Centaur, 10199 Chariklo, was previously shown to have rings, but the findings at Chiron raise questions about the nature of the structures around Chariklo as well. The origin and composition of the material around Chiron remain unknown.

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