It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s an asteroid-comet hybrid called a ‘centaur’ that might not even be that. Asteroids are metallic rocks that form close to the sun, while comets are dirty snowballs thrown from the fringes of our star system.

Researcher Noemí Pinilla-Alonso explained that the composition is uncharacteristic of objects near Neptune. Its gaseous and solid states, which lead to behavior like that of an asteroid and a comet, are also head-scratchers.

Scientists have made a shocking discovery about a rare object in our solar system likened to an asteroid-comet hybrid. Astronomers from the University of Central Florida have made the space discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

In the distant space out beyond the orbit of Jupiter lurks a strange object. Its name is Chiron, a type of outer Solar System body known as a centaur. But even among its fellow centaurs, Chiron is special – and new observations from JWST reveal how truly Chiron is like nothing else we've ever seen.

A strange asteroid-comet hybrid that orbits between Jupiter and Neptune could reveal key details about the birth of our solar system.

In the icy expanse beyond Jupiter and Neptune, a peculiar celestial body named Chiron has puzzled scientists for decades. Officially classified as 2060 Chiron, this 125-mile-wide object blurs the boundaries between asteroid and comet.

Scientists have discovered new characteristics of a small body which orbits the sun between Jupiter and Neptune, providing more clues about the origins of the Solar System. Chiron is a unique celestial object known as a centaur that has features of both asteroids and comets.