Not Quite Comet, Not Quite Asteroid: NASA’s JWST Spotted a Centaur known as Chariklo!

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just observed a centaur known as Chariklo and was able to confirm that it has rings and water ice. How often can you say that you observed a centaur through your telescope? Museum of Science, Planetarium Educator, Talia Sepersky explains the significance of this fascinating celestial hybrid. Centaurs are celestial bodies that orbit between Jupiter and Neptune and have characteristics of both asteroids and comets. This new information about Chariklo's composition adds to our knowledge of the early formation of the Solar System and the processes that led to the formation of planets and other objects. The Webb Space Telescope's technology has made it possible to observe this distant and previously unstudied centaur, and we can now continue to study Chariklo and other centaurs to gain new insights into the history of our Solar System.