Emma Rosemurgey
Astronomers have made an interesting observation after keeping a keen eye on a strange object that has been floating between Jupiter and Uranus.
The space object, named Chiron, is believed to be a piece of rock measuring a whopping 130 miles wide at its broadest point - but that's not what makes it unusual.
Scientists have recently discovered the formation of rings appearing around the object, which are changing and evolving as they watch the bizarre space rock.
Chiron is part of a group of objects known as centaurs, which are classed as minor planets orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune on paths that cross at least one of the planets.
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While chiron behaves like both a comet and an asteroid, the most unusual observation is the fact it appears to have its own rings, just like a mini version of the gas and ice giants.
Interestingly, data gathered from the space rock in 2023 suggests these changes happened as recently as the past few decades, suggesting the environment around the object is incredibly dynamic.
Because of its distance and lack of light, Chiron is difficult to study, but every now and then it passes in front of a bright star, allowing astronomers to gain a higher level of detail about the object.
In September 2023, it floated in front of a star for mere seconds, but allowed a total of 31 observation sites in South America to gather images of the object.
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"When Chiron passed in front of a distant star, its light was dimmed not only by the main body but also by multiple structures surrounding it. So, we were able to map this system in unprecedented detail," astronomer Chrystian Pereira, from the National Observatory in Brazil, explained.
However, Chiron even went as far as eclipsing the star, showing in great detail the three rings orbiting the rock, with the two inner circles believed to be close enough to the object to be impacted by its gravity.
These observations differ from what was gathered during a 2018 sighting led by Amanda Sickafoose of the Planetary Science Institute in the US. Both Sickafoose's team and Pereira's team believe this provides proof of the constant changes to the space around Chiron.
Pereira's team said: "We are seeing the aftermath of a recent event. The material ejected by Chiron appears to be gradually settling in the object's equatorial plane, being shaped by gravitational resonances and collisions, forming the rings we see today. It's as if we've found the missing link, observing an intermediate stage in the formation of a ring system."
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Despite being smaller than a planet, Chiron may provide a natural lab for learning just how ring systems form and change.
"We may be witnessing the ongoing formation of a ring system around a small body," the teams wrote in their papers.
"Chiron may thus represent a rare observational window into an intermediate evolutionary phase, offering a potential missing link in the formation pathway of ring systems around small Solar System bodies."