Rings around a tiny body have changed over the past decade
Chariklo is only about 250 km across, but it has two rings, and they're changing.
Chariklo is only about 250 km across, but it has two rings, and they're changing.
The short version
- Chariklo is only about 250 km across, but it has two rings, and they’re changing.
- In a recent study, Santos-Sanz and his colleagues used the James Webb Space Telescope to watch the same body, now known as Chariklo, pass in front of a background star again.
- They found one of its rings had grown denser and the other had almost vanished.
What happened
The technique behind the observation is simple. “We predict when a Solar System object passes in front of a star,” Santos-Sanz said.
Why it matters
The starlight dims for a moment, and the shape of that dip reveals the size, shape, and surroundings of the object that caused it.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.