Webb study hints at changing rings of 'centaur' Chariklo

James Webb telescope observations show that the rings of the 400-km-wide centaur Chariklo have changed over a decade: the inner ring became denser, the outer ring less dense. The study was published in Science Advances.

• Chariklo is the first small Solar System object with rings, discovered in 2013
• JWST observed a stellar occultation in 2022 with 2.5 km/s precision
• Inner ring became denser, outer ring less dense
• Scientists proposed three explanations: resolution, particle composition, and optical effects