Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Astrophys J. 2000 Mar 10;531(2):L151-L154.Links

Water Ice in 2060 Chiron and Its Implications for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects.

Luu JX, Jewitt DC, Trujillo C.

We report the detection of water ice in the Centaur 2060 Chiron, based on near-infrared spectra (1.0-2.5 µm) taken with the 3.8 m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and the 10 m Keck Telescope. The appearance of this ice is correlated with the recent decline in Chiron's cometary activity: the decrease in the coma cross section allows previously hidden solid-state surface features to be seen. We predict that water ice is ubiquitous among Centaurs and Kuiper Belt objects, but its surface coverage varies from object to object and thus determines its detectability and the occurrence of cometary activity.

PMID: 10688775 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]