dimming before 2008 and brightening since. Nonetheless, the elongated shape of Chariklo explains most of the brightness variability resulting in darker rings than previously determined. Furthermore, the rings can explain the gradual disappearance of the water-ice features in Chariklo's spectrum before 2008 and their reappearance thereafter if the water ice is in Chariklo's rings. The existence of a ring system around a minor planet was unexpected because it had been thought that rings could only be stable around much more massive bodies. Ring systems around minor bodies had not previously been discovered despite the search for them through direct imaging and stellar occultation techniques. Chariklo's rings should disperse over a period of at most a few million years, so either they are very young, or they are actively contained by shepherd moons with a mass comparable to that of the rings. However, other research suggests that Chariklo's elongated shape combined with its fast rotation can clear material in an equatorial disk through Lindblad resonances and explain the survival and location of the rings, a mechanism valid also for the ring of Haumea. The team nicknamed the rings Oiapoque (the inner, more substantial ring) and Chuí (the outer ring), after the two rivers that form the northern and southern coastal borders of Brazil. A request for formal names will be submitted to the IAU at a later date. It has been speculated that 2060 Chiron may have a similar pair of rings. Exploration Camilla is a mission concept published in June 2018 that would launch a robotic probe to perform a single flyby of Chariklo and drop off a impactor made of tungsten to excavate a crater approximately deep for remote compositional analysis during the flyby. The mission would be designed to fit under the cost cap of NASA New Frontiers program, although it has not been formally proposed to compete for funding. The spacecraft would be launched in September 2026, using one gravity assist from Venus in February 2027 and Earth in December 2027 and 2029 to accelerate it out toward Jupiter. See also References External links 37th DPS: Albedos, Diameters (and a Density) of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects Chariklo Photo (February 1999) Chariklo's orbit between Saturn and Uranus. Demonstration of how centaur 10199 Chariklo is currently controlled by Uranus (Solex 10) Centaurs (small Solar System bodies) Discoveries by James V. Scotti 010199 Named minor planets 010199 010199 19970215