Chariklo minor planet and rings, artwork. Chariklo orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus as part of a group of objects called centaurs. Discovered

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Chariklo minor planet and rings, artwork. Chariklo orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus as part of a group of objects called centaurs. Discovered in 1997, it is the largest centaur, with a diameter of around 250 kilometres. In March 2014, it was announced that two rings had been observed around Chariklo, making it the smallest known astronomical body to have rings (after the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). A possible origin of the rings is a collision that created a disc of debris including water ice. The rings, called Oiapoque and Chui, are around 7 and 3 kilometres wide with an orbital radius of around 400 kilometres.

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Size: 4724px × 3891px
Photo credit: © DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 2014, 10199, artwork, asteroid, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, centaur, centaurs, chariklo, chui, close-, debris, detail, ice, icy, illustration, largest, minor, oiapoque, outer, planet, planetary, rare, ring, ringed, rings, rocky, science, smallest, solar, space, system, unique, water