Centaurs — celestial bodies that combine asteroids’ rockiness and comets’ gaseousness — are relatively rare and short-lived components of our solar system. A team of astronomers has in one of these hybrid objects called Chiron now characterized what could be considered a unicorn among centaurs.
Learning About Centaurs
Chiron contains signs that it has emitted both carbon dioxide and methane — the first time the two gasses were found released from a Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO), a team of scientists report in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Chiron’s chemical composition is unique in that carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ice are part of its surface, while carbon dioxide and methane gas are part of its “coma” — a cloud-like collection of dust and gases that surround it.
