Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 #1 Share Posted March 27, 2014 First Ring System Around Asteroid Chariklo found to have two rings Observations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System — after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris. The new results are published online in the journal Nature on 26 March 2014.The rings of Saturn are one of the most spectacular sights in the sky, and less prominent rings have also been found around the other giant planets. Despite many careful searches, no rings had been found around smaller objects orbiting the Sun in the Solar System. Now observations of the distant minor planet (10199) Chariklo as it passed in front of a star have shown that this object too is surrounded by two fine rings. Read more... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #2 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) First Ring System Around AsteroidThis ESOcast shows how observations at many sites in South America, including ESO's La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System — after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris.Credit: ESOSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Artist's impression of ring system around asteroid CharikloObservations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System - after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris.This artist's impression shows how the ring system may look from close-up.Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. KornmesserSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Artist's impression of ring system around asteroid CharikloObservations at many sites in South America, including ESO's La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System - after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris.This artist's impression shows how the ring system may look from close-up.Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. KornmesserSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #5 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Artist's impression of ring system around asteroid CharikloObservations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System — after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris.This artist's impression shows how the ring system may look from close-up.Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. KornmesserSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Observations of the occultation of asteroid CharikloThis video shows what happened when the asteroid Chariklo passed in front of a star. As well as the expected drop in brightness when the asteroid blocked the light of the star two smaller dips were seen, before and afterwards, caused by the presence of a double ring.Credit: ESO/Felipe Braga Ribas/M. KornmesserSource: ESO Observatory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #7 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Artist's impression of ring system around asteroid CharikloObservations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings. This is the smallest object by far found to have rings and only the fifth body in the Solar System — after the much larger planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - to have this feature. The origin of these rings remains a mystery, but they may be the result of a collision that created a disc of debris.This artist's impression shows how the ring system may look from close-up.Credit: ESO/L. CalçadaSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 27, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Animation of the outer Solar System and orbits of CentaursThis animation shows the motions of bodies in the outer Solar System. Objects in long-term unstable orbits in this region are known as Centaurs and the largest Centaur is Chariklo, the first small body to be found to have a ring.Credit: ESO/L. CalçadaSource: ESO Observatory Edited March 27, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximusnow Posted March 28, 2014 #9 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I can hear it now, Girl, Just cause you got a ring dont mean nothin! Your man done come up to me just last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted March 28, 2014 #10 Share Posted March 28, 2014 So would the moon be orbiting between the rings having cleaned out that central corridor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancient astronaut Posted March 28, 2014 #11 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Science kicks ass!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taniwha Posted March 28, 2014 #12 Share Posted March 28, 2014 So would the moon be orbiting between the rings having cleaned out that central corridor? How come there is no evidence of the moon in the occultation data? Observations of the occultation of asteroid CharikloThis video shows what happened when the asteroid Chariklo passed in front of a star. As well as the expected drop in brightness when the asteroid blocked the light of the star two smaller dips were seen, before and afterwards, caused by the presence of a double ring.Credit: ESO/Felipe Braga Ribas/M. KornmesserSource: ESO Observatory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 28, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted March 28, 2014 How come there is no evidence of the moon in the occultation data? Because moons orbit around their primary, in other words they are constantly moving. The chances of a small moon being in exactly the correct point in it's orbit to occult the star are quite low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast Posted March 28, 2014 #14 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Astronomy is the best cinema you can get. Period. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taniwha Posted March 28, 2014 #15 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Because moons orbit around their primary, in other words they are constantly moving. The chances of a small moon being in exactly the correct point in it's orbit to occult the star are quite low. Thats not conclusive evidence of rings. The asteroid may have two or more moons that happened to be in the correct spatial alignment at the right time. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted March 28, 2014 #16 Share Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) Thats not conclusive evidence of rings. The asteroid may have two or more moons that happened to be in the correct spatial alignment at the right time. Just saying. Anything is possible but that is highly improbable. There are two rings which means 4 occlusions so there would have to be 4 moons, all lined up perfectly, to get your results. What do you think is more likely? Plus, I am sure, when a team of professionals considers all the data from the various instruments involved, that they are pretty sure they are looking at rings, two of them, around the asteroid.. Edited March 28, 2014 by Merc14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted April 7, 2014 #17 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Impressive find! Perhaps in the future tech will have reached a stage where we can send thousands of tiny exploratory robotic ships with cameras to all these exotic worlds to gather data and take photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taniwha Posted April 7, 2014 #18 Share Posted April 7, 2014 (edited) Impressive find! Perhaps in the future tech will have reached a stage where we can send thousands of tiny exploratory robotic ships with cameras to all these exotic worlds to gather data and take photos. That would be great. Or even if those robots could attach to one and navigate it back to Earth for the purpose of 's t u d y' lol. Edited April 7, 2014 by taniwha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted April 8, 2014 Author #19 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Thats not conclusive evidence of rings. The asteroid may have two or more moons that happened to be in the correct spatial alignment at the right time. Just saying. You don't know what you are talking about. Just saying. Anything is possible but that is highly improbable. There are two rings which means 4 occlusions so there would have to be 4 moons, all lined up perfectly, to get your results. Not only that but you would have to have two pairs of moons sharing only two orbits. The pairs would have to be 180o from each other. This is a highly unstable situation. The chances of finding one pair of moons in that position are vanishingly low. The chances of two pairs virtually non-existent. This is conclusive evidence of rings (for everyone except taniwha apparently) and is how the rings of both Uranus and Neptune were discovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolguy Posted April 11, 2014 #20 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Awesome find.i bet there are other asteroids with rings around them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted April 12, 2014 #21 Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) Awesome find.i bet there are other asteroids with rings around them I'd bet you are right sir. Cheers to the folks that are finding them, the geniuses that created the tools to find them and the guys with 40 pound heads that think this stuff up and then go look for it. We are a helluva a species aren't we? Edited April 12, 2014 by Merc14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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