CHIRON HAS RINGS - OR DOES IT?
On March 16, 2015 astronomers published amazing news about Chiron: it had two rings. In 2011, Chiron passed in front of a faint star from our point of view here on Earth and it was noticed that the star's light dimmed slightly — twice before Chiron itself occulted the star, and two further times after Chiron had moved past the star. This observation was interpreted as Chiron having a double-ring system of dust.
This was about a year after rings were discovered around another Centaurean body, Chariklo. (You can read about her rings on my Chariklo page: CHARIKLO
But recent studies, released in late 2023, put Chiron's rings into the 'maybe' category. It has been discovered to have a transforming disk around it which may be made of dust, and this disk changes shape and my simply mimic rings.
On Nov. 28, 2018, Chiron occulted another star. Astronomers spent five years studying the event, and just published their findings in 2023. From the report: "We detected dips in the starlight as it was blocked by Chiron's nucleus as well as by material located between 300 to 400 kilometers on either side." Specifically, as Chiron moved over the star, they observed dips in starlight produced by dusty material at radii of approximately 219, 214 and 196 miles from the center of Chiron, between about 60 to 80 miles above the Centaur's surface. After Chiron had moved away from the star, the scientists then witnessed two further dips at 221 and 226 miles from Chiron's center.
If Chiron had only two stable rings, one would expect just two pairs of symmetrical dips in light on either side of Chiron. The anomalous third dip on one side of the Centaur is evidence that the situation is not so clear-cut. Furthermore, the dips caused by the mystery material seemingly occurred tens of kilometers away from the locations of the rings as measured in 2011. The magnitude of the dips in starlight caused by the material, however, is also different.
"The locations and amounts of material that were detected around Chiron are different enough from previous observations to suggest that there is not a stable ring system but rather surrounding material that is currently evolving" said the report.
Another stellar occultation by Chiron on Dec. 15, 2022, and astronomers found the material around Chiron had changed again, detecting three symmetrical structures on either side of Chiron.
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