Chariklo, a strange ringed object beyond Saturn, looks even stranger in new James Webb telescope study

by AiNewsBlog Sep, 16

written by AiNewsBlog Sep, 16 0 comments

Chariklo, a strange ringed object beyond Saturn, looks even stranger in new James Webb telescope study

The rings around a strange small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus look mysteriously different from previous views, new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggest.

The rings encircle Chariklo, which is a centaur, a strange type of object that shows characteristics of both asteroids and comets. Chariklo is only about 400 miles (250 kilometers) in diameter and is part of a large group of tiny objects in the distant solar system.

Latest Videos FromLive Science

Researchers don’t know exactly how the changes took place, but the study authors offered three suggestions. The first is that JWST, which has a fine resolution, was able to see both denser and sparser zones of the rings than previous observations showed. The second is that there were changes in the rings’ material or in the grains themselves. Finally, a third possibility is that JWST could see “grains with wavelength-dependent optical properties,” meaning the telescope saw effects in composition and grain size that explain the variability.

All observations of Chariklo’s rings, on the ground and in space, have used stellar occultations. That’s because the rings are too faint to be imaged directly, so astronomers must instead learn more about the rings by measuring the dips and increases in brightness as Chariklo passes in front of the background star. Scientists use a similar method to study the atmospheres of alien planets with JWST’s infrared instruments.

Chariklo’s speed relative to JWST was low, at 1.5 miles per second (2.5 kilometers per second), allowing for fine imaging of the rings. To time the occultation, the researchers used info from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, which precisely charts the locations and movements of more than 2 billion stars, as well as calculated the orbit of JWST at a location roughly 930,000 miles (1.5 million km) from Earth in the opposite direction of the sun. According to the researchers, the planning and execution of the mission required “extreme precision.”

Santos-Sanz, P., Gomes-Júnior, A. R., Morgado, B. E., Kilic, Y., Kalup, C., Kiss, C., Pereira, C. L., Holler, B. J., Morales, N., Ortiz, J. L., Sicardy, B., Rizos, J. L., Stansberry, J., French, R. G., Hammel, H. B., Lin, Z., Souami, D., Desmars, J., Milam, S. N., . . . Vara-Lubiano, M. (2026). JWST stellar occultation reveals unexpected changes in Chariklo’s ring system. Science Advances, 12(37), eaeh4794. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeh4794

TOPICS

source: https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/strange-centaur-object-between-saturn-and-uranus-has-mysterious-changing-rings-james-webb-telescope-study-hints

Name	Price	7d %	Volume
Bitcoin btc	$75,914	-3.60%	$39,365,998,619
Ethereum eth	$2,405	-3.40%	$18,889,677,472
XRP xrp	$1.30	-8.10%	$5,945,313,919
Solana sol	$97	-5.90%	$3,943,690,755
Dogecoin doge	$0.080	-10.40%	$835,918,130

Peace Education in Action

Latest Articles

Editors' Picks

Chariklo, a strange ringed object beyond Saturn, looks even stranger in new James Webb telescope study

RFK Jr. to speak at Children’s Health Defense event, Klomp faces senators

The Bamboo Flute-Techniques for Beginners and Intermediate Flautists

You may also like

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Latest Articles

Login/Register

Editors' Picks