Pablo Santos-Sanz

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JWST finds Chariklo's rings changing in opposite directions

As of September 2026: Leading follow-up occultation campaigns

Chariklo is a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, and it hosts two narrow rings discovered in 2013. New James Webb Space Telescope observations show those rings are not stable: the inner ring has grown denser while the outer ring has faded, all within a few years.

Updated Sep 16

Notable Quotes

By comparing JWST observations with those obtained during other stellar occultations over the last decade, we discovered opposite changes in the two rings.

from JWST finds Chariklo's rings changing in opposite directions · Updated Sep 16

Our results force us to rethink how they form, how they evolve, and what mechanisms maintain their stability.

from JWST finds Chariklo's rings changing in opposite directions · Updated Sep 16