Wednesday 20 July 2016

(10199) Chariklo, discovery of two rings

A stellar occultation of the centaur Chariklo, in June 2013, revealed that it had two rings; discovery that was made public in March 2014.

The rings orbit at a distance of 400 km from the center of the centaur Chariklo, whose diameter is about 250 km; and they are separated from each other by a distance of 9 km. The largest ring is 6-7 km wide, the other 2-4 km.


The rings have been nicknamed 'Oiapoque' and 'Chuí' in honor of the two rivers that form the northern and southern coastal borders of Brazil.

The orbit of centaur Chariklo is located between Saturn and Uranus, in 4:3 resonance with Uranus.