BRAZIL: Scientist in Rio de Janeiro reveal they have observed two rings surrounding a giant asteroid, the first time rings have been observed on such a small object

Record ID: 217179

  • Title: BRAZIL: Scientist in Rio de Janeiro reveal they have observed two rings surrounding a giant asteroid, the first time rings have been observed on such a small object
  • Date: 26th March 2014
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (MARCH 26, 2014) (REUTERS) RIO DE JANEIRO FROM ABOVE DURING SUNSET CLOSE-UP OF VIDEO MONITOR SHOWING MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA WITH SUPERIMPOSED BLACK CIRCULAR OBJECT OVER IT CLOSE-UP OF DIGITAL IMAGE OF THE CHARIKLO ASTEROID PRESENTER SPEAKING TO A CROWD SMALL AUDIENCE LISTENS TO PRESENTER
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Science / Technology,Space
  • Reuters ID: LVADSAERD2NAFQ5F63CYEH955HPF
  • Story Text: Astronomers in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday (March 26) revealed their surprising finding of a rare asteroid with rings.
    Rings are commonly known to surround the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, but they have never been observed an object so small.
    The giant asteroid, or miniature planet, called Chariklo is said to have two rings made of ice and pebble.
    Various South American observatories, including the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile, contributed to the findings.
    Professor Julio Camargo said they made the discovery when they noticed Chariklo was momentarily blocking the light of a particular star.

    "Our work was to map an entire region, in which this object passes in the sky. Then we determined it was hiding a particular star and what was really surprising is that we detected the presence of two rings surrounding the object," Camargo said.
    The scientists determined that one of Chariklo's rings measures seven kilometres wide while the other measures three kilometres. A distance of nine kilometres separates the two rings.
    Scientists are not absolutely sure how the rings may have formed but they have given them two temporary names after Brazilian rivers, Oiapoque and Chui.
    One existing theory is that after a massive collision leftover debris formed into rings around Chariklo.
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