NASA Webb Telescope Zooms in on One of Solar System's Oddest Objects
upstart writes:
The space agency's next-generation observatory grabbed a detailed view of ringed asteroid Chariklo:
Scientists using NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope say they've been able to get a closer look at an asteroid that also hosts just the fifth ring system to be discovered in our solar system (the others circle Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune).
Astronomers initially discovered the rings in 2013 while watching Chariklo occult, or pass in front of, a distant star. To their surprise, two other smaller objects also appeared to pass in front of the background star for an instant. These turned out to be two thin rings around Chariklo.
In October 2022, Pablo Santos-Sanz, from Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Spain, used Webb to watch Chariklo occult a star once again.
[...] So far, data suggests the rings could be made up of ice and other dark debris, probably the remnants of some ancient cosmic collision with the asteroid.
[...] "We hope to gain insight into why this small body even has rings at all," he said, "and perhaps detect new fainter rings."
Associated video showing the occultation [either that, or Conway's Game of Life --hubie]
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