2060 Chiron in the context of "Centaur (minor planet)"

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⭐ Core Definition: 2060 Chiron

2060 Chiron is a ringed small Solar System body in the outer Solar System, orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal, it was the first-identified member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs—bodies orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology.

Although it was initially called an asteroid and classified only as a minor planet with the designation "2060 Chiron", in 1989 it was found to exhibit behavior typical of a comet. Today it is classified as both a minor planet and a comet, and is accordingly also known by the cometary designation 95P/Chiron. More recently, a series of occultation events through the 2010s and early 2020s revealed that Chiron hosts rings, making it one of four minor planets known to have rings (the three others being 10199 Chariklo, Haumea, and Quaoar) and the only known comet to do so.

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👉 2060 Chiron in the context of Centaur (minor planet)

In planetary astronomy, a centaur is a small Solar System body that orbits the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune and crosses the orbits of one or more of the giant planets. Centaurs generally have unstable orbits because of this; almost all their orbits have dynamic lifetimes of only a few million years, but there is one known centaur, 514107 Kaʻepaokaʻāwela, which may be in a stable (though retrograde) orbit. Centaurs typically exhibit the characteristics of both asteroids and comets. They are named after the mythological centaurs that were a mixture of horse and human. Observational bias toward large objects makes determination of the total centaur population difficult. Estimates for the number of centaurs in the Solar System more than 1 km in diameter range from as low as 44,000 to more than 10,000,000.

The first centaur to be discovered, under the definition of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the one used here, was 944 Hidalgo in 1920. However, they were not recognized as a distinct population until the discovery of 2060 Chiron in 1977. The largest confirmed centaur is 10199 Chariklo, which at 250 kilometers in diameter is as big as a mid-sized main-belt asteroid, and is known to have a system of rings. It was discovered in 1997.

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2060 Chiron in the context of Ephemeris

In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (/ɪˈfɛmərɪs/; pl. ephemerides /ˌɛfəˈmɛrɪˌdiːz/; from Latin ephemeris 'diary', from Ancient Greek ἐφημερίς (ephēmerís) 'diary, journal') is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects and artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly velocity) over time. Historically, positions were given as printed tables of values, given at regular intervals of date and time. The calculation of these tables was one of the first applications of mechanical computers. Modern ephemerides are often provided in electronic form. However, printed ephemerides are still produced, as they are useful when computational devices are not available.

The astronomical position calculated from an ephemeris is often given in the spherical polar coordinate system of right ascension and declination, together with the distance from the origin if applicable. Some of the astronomical phenomena of interest to astronomers are eclipses, apparent retrograde motion/planetary stations, planetary ingresses, sidereal time, positions for the mean and true nodes of the moon, the phases of the Moon, and the positions of minor celestial bodies such as Chiron.

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2060 Chiron in the context of Solar System object

The following is a list of Solar System objects by orbit, ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more.

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2060 Chiron in the context of 10199 Chariklo

10199 Chariklo /ˈkærəkloʊ/ is a ringed asteroid or centaur in the outer Solar System. It is the largest known centaur, with a diameter of about 250 km (160 mi). It orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus with an orbital period of 62.5 years. It was discovered on 15 February 1997 by the University of Arizona's Spacewatch project at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Chariklo has a dark, reddish surface composed of water ice, silicate minerals, amorphous carbon, and various complex organic compounds (also known as tholins).

Chariklo's ring system consists of two narrow rings of icy particles in orbit around the object. The rings of Chariklo were discovered in 2013, when astronomers observed Chariklo occulting or passing in front of a star. Chariklo was the first minor planet discovered to have rings, and as of 2025, it is one of the four minor planets known to have rings (the three others being 2060 Chiron, Haumea, and Quaoar). It is unknown what keeps Chariklo's rings stable, as it has been predicted that they should decay within a few million years. Astronomers have hypothesized that Chariklo's rings might be maintained by the gravitational influence of yet-undiscovered shepherd moons orbiting Chariklo. The origin of Chariklo's rings is uncertain, with various possible explanations including ejection of surface material via outgassing or tidal disruption of a moon around Chariklo.

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2060 Chiron in the context of Rings of Chariklo

The centaur 10199 Chariklo, with a diameter of about 250 kilometres (160 mi), is the second-smallest celestial object with confirmed rings (with 2060 Chiron being the smallest), and the fifth ringed celestial object discovered in the Solar System, after the gas giants and ice giants. Orbiting Chariklo is a bright ring system consisting of two narrow and dense bands, 6–7 km (4 mi) and 2–4 km (2 mi) wide, separated by a gap of 9 kilometres (6 mi). The rings orbit at distances of about 400 kilometres (250 mi) from the center of Chariklo, a thousandth the distance between Earth and the Moon. The discovery was made by a team of astronomers using ten telescopes at various locations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in South America during observation of a stellar occultation on 3 June 2013, and was announced on 26 March 2014.

The existence of a ring system around a minor planet was unexpected because it had been thought that rings could only be stable around much more massive bodies. Ring systems around minor bodies had not previously been discovered despite the search for them through direct imaging and stellar occultation techniques. Chariklo's rings should disperse over a period of at most a few million years, so either they are very young, or they are actively contained by shepherd moons with a mass comparable to that of the rings. The team nicknamed the rings Oiapoque (the inner, more substantial ring) and Chuí (the outer ring), after the two rivers that form the northern and southern coastal borders of Brazil. A request for formal names will be submitted to the IAU at a later date.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Ephemeris ← Centaur (minor planet) ← Centaur (small Solar System body) ← Solar System object ← 10199 Chariklo ← Rings of Chariklo
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Small Solar System body → Solar System → Orbit → Sun → Saturn → Uranus → Charles Kowal → Centaur (small Solar System body) → Asteroid belt → Kuiper belt → Centaur → Chiron → Greek mythology → Asteroid → Minor planet → Comet → Occultation → Ring system → Ring system → 10199 Chariklo → Haumea → Quaoar →