The object lurking behind Jupiter is something that cannot be defined

(NLDO) - Lurking outside Jupiter's orbit, 2060 Chiron is described as "unlike anything we've ever seen before."

According to Live Science, the James Webb Space Telescope has focused its attention on a strange space rock wandering in the space between Jupiter and Neptune, with characteristics of both a comet and an asteroid.

But it also doesn't look like a "dark comet," a rare class of asteroids that have previously been recorded as comet-like.

It is named 2060 Chiron, or simply Chiron, after a centaur (horse-man hybrid) in Greek mythology.

2060 Chiron, a mysterious object lurking behind Jupiter - Photo: William Gonzalez Sierra

Chiron was discovered in 1966, orbiting the Sun about every 50 years, moving in an elongated elliptical orbit in the region between Jupiter and Neptune.

But now, under the "magic eye" of James Webb, scientists can see it clearly, and then are completely confused.

According to a paper published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, they detected frozen carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and carbon monoxide (CO) in its icy core, as well as carbon dioxide and methane (CH ₄ ) in the surrounding gas cloud.

Previous studies have shown CO gas in the object's coma, but new observations show that CO also exists in frozen form on Chiron's surface, suggesting that the gas in its coma most likely comes from reservoirs on the celestial body's complex surface.

Astronomers also detected water ice and light carbon-containing molecules such as ethane and propane for the first time on a hybrid object of this type,

Chiron may have collected simpler molecules like _CO2 and water left behind by the nebula that formed our solar system, according to co-author Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, a planetary scientist from the University of Central Florida (USA) and the University of Oviedo (Spain).

Objects like Chiron haven't changed much since the solar system began, so observing how they interact on Chiron could help scientists better understand how the world around us began.

Scientists also believe that Chiron's nature leans toward that of a comet, so they will continue their research to look for clearer evidence of the comet's nucleus as well as how the properties on this hybrid object change at each position in its orbit.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/vat-the-an-nap-sau-sao-moc-la-thu-khong-the-dinh-nghia-196241226111140326.htm