- 2060 Chiron
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2060 Chiron 
95P/ChironDiscoveryDiscovered by Charles T. Kowal Discovery date October 18, 1977 DesignationsMPC designation 2060 Chiron
95P/ChironNamed after Chiron Alternate name(s) 1977 UB Minor planet
categoryCentaur,[1] Comet Adjective Chironean, Chironian Epoch June 18, 2009 (JD 2455000.5) Aphelion 18.891 AU (Q)
2,826 GmPerihelion 8.5114 AU (q)
1,273 GmSemi-major axis 13.708 AU (2,050.7 Gm) (a) Eccentricity 0.37911 Orbital period 50.76 a (18,539 d) Average orbital speed 7.75 km/s Mean anomaly 94.716° (M) Inclination 6.9311° Longitude of ascending node 209.31° Argument of perihelion 339.98° Physical characteristicsDimensions 233 ± 14 km[3]
132–152 km[4]Mass ≈1 × 1019 kg (assumed)[5] Mean density unknown Equatorial surface gravity 0.037–0.040 m/s2 Escape velocity 0.070–0.075 km/s Rotation period 0.2466 d (5.918 h)[2] Albedo 0.075 ± 0.01[3]
0.11 ± 0.02 [4]Temperature ~75 K Spectral type B,Cb[2] Apparent magnitude ~18.7[6]
15.6 (Perihelic opposition)Absolute magnitude (H) 6.5[2] Angular diameter 0.035" (max)[7] 2060 Chiron (
/ˈkaɪrən/ ky-rən; Greek: Χείρων) is a minor planet in the outer Solar System. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal (precovery images have been found as far back as 1895),[8] it was the first-known member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus.Although it was initially classified as an asteroid, it was later found to exhibit behaviour typical of a comet. Today it is classified as both, and accordingly it is also known by the cometary designation 95P/Chiron.
Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology. It should not be confused with the Plutonian moon Charon, discovered the following year, in 1978.
Contents
Discovery and naming
Chiron was discovered on 18 October 1977 by Charles Kowal from images taken two weeks earlier at Palomar Observatory.[9] It was given the temporary designation of 1977UB.[10] It was found near aphelion[9] and at the time of discovery it was the most distant known minor planet.[10] Chiron was even claimed as the tenth planet by the press.[11] Chiron was later found on several precovery images, going back to 1895, which allowed its orbit to be accurately determined.[9] It had been at perihelion in 1945 but was not discovered then because there were few searches being made at that time, and these were not sensitive to slow-moving objects.[9] The Lowell Observatory's survey for distant planets would not have gone down faint enough in the 1930s and did not cover the right region of the sky in the 1940s.[9]
It was named 2060 Chiron in 1979.[10] The proposed symbol is ⚷. Chiron was one of the centaurs, and it was suggested that the names of other centaurs be reserved for other objects of the same type.[9]
Physical characteristics
The visible and near-infrared spectrum of Chiron is neutral,[10] and is similar to that of C-type asteroids and the nucleus of Halley's Comet.[12]
Size estimates for Chiron:[4] Year Radius (km) Notes 1984 90 Lebofsky 1991 <186 IRAS 1994 74 Campins 1996 90 asteroid occultation 2007 117[3] Spitzer Space Telescope The assumed size of an object depends on its absolute magnitude (H) and the albedo (the amount of light it reflects). In 1984 Lebofsky estimated Chiron to be about 180 km in diameter.[4] Estimates in the 1990s were closer to 150 km in diameter.[2][4] Asteroid occultation data from 1993 suggests a diameter of about 180 km.[4] The data from the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2007 suggests that Chiron is closer to 233 ± 14 km in diameter.[3] Therefore Chiron may be as large as 10199 Chariklo.[3]
Its rotational period is 5.917813 hours, a value determined by observing its distinct light curve.[10]
Cometary behaviour
In February 1988, at 12 AU from the Sun, Chiron brightened by 75 percent.[13] This is behaviour typical of comets but not asteroids. Further observations in April 1989 showed that Chiron had developed a cometary coma,[13] and a tail was detected in 1993.[10] Chiron differs from other comets in that water is not a major component of its coma, because it is too far from the Sun for water to sublimate.[12]
At the time of its discovery, Chiron was close to aphelion, whereas the observations showing a coma were done closer to perihelion, perhaps explaining why no cometary behavior had been seen earlier. The fact that Chiron is still active probably means it has not been in this orbit that long.[8]
Chiron is officially designated as both a comet and an asteroid, an indication of the sometimes fuzzy dividing line between the two classes of object. The term proto-comet has also been used. Being at least 130 km in diameter, it is unusually large for a comet nucleus.
Since the discovery of Chiron, other centaurs have been discovered, and nearly all are currently classified as asteroids but are being observed for possible cometary behavior. 60558 Echeclus has displayed a cometary coma and now also has the cometary designation 174P/Echeclus. After passing perihelion in early 2008, centaur 52872 Okyrhoe significantly brightened.[14]
There are other non-centaur asteroids that are also classified as main-belt comets: 4015 Wilson-Harrington, 7968 Elst-Pizarro, and 118401 LINEAR.[15]
Orbit
Chiron's orbit was found to be highly eccentric (0.37), with perihelion just inside the orbit of Saturn and aphelion just outside the perihelion of Uranus (it does not reach the average distance of Uranus, however). According to the program Solex, Chiron's closest approach to Saturn in modern times was in May 720, at just under 30 million kilometres. During this passage Saturn's gravity caused Chiron's semi-major axis to decrease from 14.4AU[16] to 13.7AU.[2] It does not come nearly as close to Uranus; Chiron crosses Uranus' orbit where the latter is farther than average from the Sun. It attracted considerable interest because it was the first object discovered in such an orbit, well outside the asteroid belt. Chiron is classified as a centaur, the first of a class of objects orbiting between the outer planets. Chiron is an SU object since its perihelion lies within Saturn's zone of control and its aphelion lies within Uranus' zone of control.[17] Centaurs are not in stable orbits and over millions of years will eventually be removed by gravitational perturbation by the giant planets, moving to different orbits or leaving the Solar System altogether.[18] Chiron is probably a refugee from the Kuiper belt and will probably become a short-period comet in about a million years.[17]
Chiron came to perihelion (closest point to the Sun) in 1996.[2]
Orbit 
The orbit of 2060 Chiron compared with the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.Chaotic Motion 
The chaotic unstable motion of Chiron as simulated by Gravity Simulator. It is possible that Chiron will evolve into a 2:1 near resonance with Saturn over the next 10,000+ years.References
- ^ Marc W. Buie (2007-08-18). "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 2060". SwRI (Space Science Department). http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~buie/kbo/astrom/2060.html. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2060 Chiron (1977 UB)". 2008-11-28 last obs. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=Chiron;orb=0;cov=0#phys_par. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ a b c d e John Stansberry, Will Grundy, Mike Brown, Dale Cruikshank, John Spencer, David Trilling, Jean-Luc Margot (2007). "Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope". arXiv:astro-ph/0702538 [astro-ph].
- ^ a b c d e f Groussin (2004). "Properties of the nuclei of Centaurs Chiron and Chariklo". Astronomy and Astrophysics 413: 1163–1175. Bibcode 2004A&A...413.1163G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031564.
- ^ Using the 2007 Spitzer radius of 116.5 km; volume of a sphere * an assumed density of 1.5 g/cm3 yields a mass (m=d*v) of 9.93E+18 kg
- ^ "AstDys (2060) Chiron Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.3.0&n=Chiron. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ Meech, Karen (19 February 1994). "The Structure of the Inner Coma of Comet Chiron: Imaging The Exopause". Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii. http://www.stecf.org/poa/FOS/props/3769c.prop. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ a b Grayzeck, Ed (2003-12-11). "The Chiron Perihelion Campaign". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chiron.html. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ a b c d e f Kowal, C. T.; Liller, W.; Marsden, B.G. (1979). "The Discovery and Orbit of (2060) Chiron". Dynamics of the solar system; Proceedings of the Symposium, Tokyo, Japan, May 23–26, 1978.. Tokyo: Reidel Publishing Co.. pp. 245–250. Bibcode 1979IAUS...81..245K.
- ^ a b c d e f Campins, H.; Telesco, C. M.; Osip, D. J.; Rieke, G. H.; Rieke, M. J.; Schulz, B. (December 1994). "The Color Temperature of (2060) Chiron: A Warm and Small Nucleus". The Astronomical Journal 108 (6): 2318–2322. Bibcode 1994AJ....108.2318C. doi:10.1086/117244.
- ^ Collander-Brown, S.; Maran, M.; Williams, I.P. (2000). "The effect on the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt of a large distant tenth planet". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 318 (1): 101–108. Bibcode 2000MNRAS.318..101C. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.t01-1-03640.x.
- ^ a b Luu, Jane X.; Jewitt, David C. (September 1990). "Cometary activity in 2060 Chiron". The Astronomical Journal 100: 913–932. Bibcode 1990AJ....100..913L. doi:10.1086/115571.
- ^ a b Ken Croswell (Harvard University) (1990-08-25). "The changing face of Chiron". New Scientist issue 1731. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717314.800-the-changing-face-of-chiron-when-astronomers-discoveredchiron-between-the-orbits-of-saturn-and-uranus-in-1977-they-thought-itwasan-asteroid-in-a-very-strange-orbit-but-in-the-past-few-years-this-oddobject-has-begun-to-look-like-a-gigantic-comet-.html. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ Trigo-Rodríguez, Melendo, García-Hernández, Davidsson, Sánchez (2008). "A continuous follow-up of Centaurs, and dormant comets: looking for cometary activity." (PDF). European Planetary Science Congress. http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EPSC2008/00291/EPSC2008-A-00291-1.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ Dual-Status Objects
- ^ "Chiron's Osculating Elements 700AD generated with Solex 10". http://home.comcast.net/~kpheider/Chiron700AD.gif. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
- ^ a b Horner, J.; Evans, N.W.; Bailey, M. E. (2004). "Simulations of the Population of Centaurs II: Individual Objects". arXiv:astro-ph/0408576.
- ^ Jewitt, David C.; A. Delsanti (2006). "The Solar System Beyond The Planets". Solar System Update : Topical and Timely Reviews in Solar System Sciences. Springer-Praxis Ed.. ISBN 3-540-26056-0. (Preprint version (pdf))
- Notes
- Luu JX, Jewitt DC, Trujillo C. (2000). "Water Ice in 2060 Chiron and Its Implications for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects". Astrophysical Journal 531 (2): L151–L154. arXiv:astro-ph/0002094. Bibcode 2000ApJ...531L.151L. doi:10.1086/312536. PMID 10688775.. Preprint on arXiv.
- Fernandez Y.R., Jewitt DC, Sheppard S (2002). "Thermal Properties of Centaurs Asbolus and Chiron". Astrophysical Journal 123: 1050–1055. arXiv:astro-ph/0111395. Bibcode 2002AJ....123.1050F. doi:10.1086/338436.
- Patrick Moore Guinness book of Astronomy ISBN 0-85112-375-9
- SOLEX 9.1
External links
- Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris
- 95P/Chiron at Cometography
- A single clone run of centaur 2060 Chiron showing how Chiron may someday become an active comet (Solex 10)
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