CANADA: Centaurs were thought once to be frozen and inactive bodies of debris but now a new research suggests that these rings are more active while they orbit around the sun.
Astronomers have confirmed that Saturn has these rings. In 2011, astronomers discovered the icy, small celestial body they called Chariklo that is one of a few centaurs that are known to exist in the universe. Chariklo is an asteroid-comet hybrid that orbits around the sun and exists between Jupiter and Pluto. Astronomers have discovered its rings when it drifted close enough to the sun. The occurrence is called stellar occultation.
Scientists have discovered a second centaur known as Chiron that contains a system of rings. Centaurs were once thought to be inactive, frozen bodies of debris. These rings suggest that they may prove much more active as they revolve around the sun.
“It’s interesting, because Chiron is a centaur — part of that middle section of the solar system, between Jupiter and Pluto, where we originally weren’t thinking things would be active, but it’s turning out things are quite active,” said researcher Amanda Bosh, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Researchers kept an eye on the brightening events on Chiron during which jets of material were released out of the surface and vaporized in space due to sun’s energy.
“There’s an aspect of serendipity to these observations,” said Bosh. “We need a certain amount of luck, waiting for Chiron to pass in front of a star that is bright enough. Chiron itself is small enough that the event is very short; if you blink, you might miss it.”
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