James Webb finds Chariklo's two rings changing in opposite ways

JWST observations of a stellar occultation show that Chariklo's two rings changed measurably within a few years: the inner ring became denser while the outer ring grew more transparent. The study, published in Science Advances, suggests ring systems around small bodies are far more dynamic than assumed.

• Chariklo's inner ring grew denser while the outer ring became more transparent
• The October 18, 2022 occultation was the first predicted and observed by JWST
• Chariklo is about 250 km across and orbits at nearly 17 times the Earth-Sun distance
• Chariklo moved relative to JWST at only 2.5 km/s during the occultation