Rings around a tiny body have changed over the past decade

For decades, astronomers believed that rings were a characteristic exclusive to giant planets. However, in 2013, this perception changed when a small, dark body, orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, transited in front of a star and exhibited two blinking rings on either side of the main event. This discovery, made by Pablo Santos-Sanz, an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain, was a surprise to the scientific community.

Since then, the focus has shifted to understanding the composition and longevity of such rings. A recent study by Santos-Sanz and his colleagues utilized the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the same body, now identified as Chariklo, as it passed in front of a background star once again. The results revealed a significant change in the rings' characteristics.

One of the rings had become denser, while the other had almost disappeared. The reasons behind these transformations remain unclear. Santos-Sanz explained that observing a starlight dip caused by a minor body is particularly challenging, especially for those that are distant.