article_snippet: Chiron, discovered in 1977, was the first planetary body categorised as a centaur, after the mythological Greek creature -- a hybrid of man and beast.
article_snippet: To discover the rings, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology observed the dimming of a star as  Chiron passed in front of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, briefly blocking the light.
article_snippet: By looking at how much and when the light was blocked, scientists say the first planetary body categorised as a centaur may possess a circulating disk of debris. '
article_snippet: It's interesting, because  Chiron is a centaur - part of that middle section of the solar system, between Jupiter and Pluto, where we originally weren't thinking things would be active, but it's turning out things are quite active,' says Amanda Bosh, a lecturer in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.
article_snippet: Chiron, discovered in 1977, was the first planetary body categorised as a centaur, after the mythological Greek creature -- a hybrid of man and beast.
article_snippet: While most centaurs are thought to be dormant, scientists have seen glimmers of activity from Chiron.
article_snippet: Chiron was discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal recovery images have been found as far back as 1895, Chiron was the first-known member of a class of objects now known as centaurs, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus .
article_snippet: Starting in the late 1980s, astronomers observed patterns of brightening from the centaur, as well as activity similar to that of a streaking comet.
article_snippet: In 2010, MIT started to chart the orbits of Chiron and nearby stars in order to pinpoint exactly when the centaur might pass across a star bright enough to detect. '
highlights_snippet: Discovery was made by studying dimming of star as Discovery passed behind  Chiron .
  