Centaur Objects

The Centaur objects are a population of small bodies, similar to asteroids in size but to comets in composition, that revolve around the Sun in the outer solar system, mainly between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. The first known member of the group, Chiron, was discovered in 1977, although its close affinity with icy comet nuclei was not recognized until more than a decade later. Since the discovery of the second known representative, Pholus, in 1992, additional Centaur objects, or Centaurs, have been reported, and astronomers have speculated that hundreds or thousands more may exist.

Centaur objects, which are as large as about 200 km (125 miles) in diameter, are thought to have originated beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, in the Kuiper Belt. Having been perturbed inward by Neptune's gravitational influence, they presently travel in unstable orbits that cross the paths of the giant planets. Because of the likelihood that they will collide with a planet or be flung by a planet's gravity into a new orbit either far from the Sun or toward the inner planets, these objects are thought to spend a short lifetime, in astronomical terms, as Centaurs. This implies that the population of Centaurs is being continually replenished from the Kuiper Belt.


distance from the Sun (2 AU), whereas most comets start to produce a visible tail only at about 1.5 AU from the Sun. These characteristics suggest that Morehouse was a "new" comet, coming straight from the Oort cloud.

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