![]() 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. Ring systems around minor bodies had not previously been discovered despite the search for them through direct imaging and stellar occultation techniques. 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. Furthermore, the rings can explain the gradual disappearance of the water-ice features in Chariklo's spectrum before 2008 and their reappearance thereafter if the water ice is in Chariklo's rings. Nonetheless, the elongated shape of Chariklo explains most of the brightness variability resulting in darker rings than previously determined. These rings are consistent with an edge-on orientation in 2008, which can explain Chariklo's dimming before 2008 and brightening since. This makes Chariklo the smallest known object to have rings. Ī stellar occultation in 2013 revealed that Chariklo has two rings with radii 386 and 400 km and widths of about 6.9 km and 0.12 km respectively. As of 2014, Chariklo was 14.8 AU from the Sun. ĭuring the perihelic oppositions of 2003–04, Chariklo had an apparent magnitude of +17.7. Orbital simulations of twenty clones of Chariklo suggest that Chariklo will not start to regularly come within 3 AU (450 Gm) of Uranus for about thirty thousand years. Chariklo lies within 0.09 AU of the 4:3 resonance of Uranus and is estimated to have a relatively long orbital half-life of about 10.3 Myr. The orbit of Chariklo is more stable than those of Nessus, Chiron, and Pholus. Orbit Ĭentaurs originated in the Kuiper belt and are in dynamically unstable orbits that will lead to ejection from the Solar System, an impact with a planet or the Sun, or transition into a short-period comet. ![]() (523727) 2014 NW 65 is likely to be the second largest with 225 km (140 mi) and 2060 Chiron is likely to be the third largest with 220 km (140 mi). Its shape is probably elongated with dimensions 287.6 × 270.4 × 198.2 km. Size and shape Ĭhariklo is currently the largest known centaur, with a volume-equivalent diameter of about 250 km. ![]() It replaces Chiron's K with a C for Chariklo. Ī symbol derived from that for 2060 Chiron,, was devised in the late 1990s by German astrologer Robert von Heeren. Chariklo is named after the nymph Chariclo ( Χαρικλώ), the wife of Chiron and the daughter of Apollo. ![]() Scotti of the Spacewatch program on February 15, 1997. Discovery and naming Ĭhariklo was discovered by James V. Infrared observations of Chariklo indicate the presence of water ice, which may in fact be located in its rings. Ī photometric study in 2001 was unable to find a definite period of rotation. On 26 March 2014, astronomers announced the discovery of two rings (nicknamed Oiapoque and Chuí after the rivers that define Brazil's borders) around Chariklo by observing a stellar occultation, making it the first minor planet known to have rings. It orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus, grazing the orbit of Uranus. 10199 Chariklo / ˈ k ær ə k l oʊ/ is the largest confirmed centaur (small body of the outer Solar System).
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