Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pisces (Psc)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
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Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron, Mirosław Stygar
Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron
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Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron

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Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron, Mirosław Stygar
Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron
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Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron

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Description

Something different this time - 95P / Chiron or (2060) Chiron.

Why does one object have two classifications? Is it both a comet and an asteroid?

The asteroid Chiron is a small solar system celestial body that orbits the sun between Saturn and Uranus. It belongs to the group of the so-called centaur asteroids (orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt) and was the first identified object of its class. Its name comes from the centaur Chiron - a character from Greek mythology.

The discovery was made in 1977 by the astronomer Charles Kowal at the Palomar Observatory and classified it as a medium-sized asteroid. Subsequent research in 1989 indicated that the object behaves more like a comet, and was given a different name, 95P / Chiron. In the vicinity of Chiron, a weak coma was observed, which is a characteristic feature of comets, which was formed as a result of gas explosions on its surface (this phenomenon is related to the periodic rise in temperature due to sunlight). Today it is classified both as an object of the class of dwarf planets and comets at the same time. Interestingly, due to its unstable orbit, Chiron, as well as most of the remaining centaurs in a few million years, will actually become full-fledged comets - they will be knocked out of their orbits and as comets will leave the Solar System, they will head towards the Sun or become short-period comets.

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Comet/Asteroid 95P/Chiron, Mirosław Stygar