Editing Solar System (section)

=== {{Anchor|Centaurs}}Centaurs ===
{{Main|Centaur (small Solar System body)|l1 = Centaur}}

The centaurs are icy, comet-like bodies whose [[Semi-major and semi-minor axes|semi-major axes]] are longer than Jupiter's and shorter than Neptune's (between 5.5 and 30&nbsp;AU). These are former Kuiper belt and [[Scattered disc|scattered disc objects]] (SDOs) that were gravitationally [[perturbation (astronomy)|perturbed]] closer to the Sun by the outer planets, and are expected to become comets or be ejected out of the Solar System.<ref name="Delsanti-Beyond_The_Planets" /> While most centaurs are inactive and asteroid-like, some exhibit cometary activity, such as the first centaur discovered, [[2060 Chiron]], which has been classified as a comet (95P) because it develops a coma just as comets do when they approach the Sun.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vanouplines |first=Patrick |date=1995 |title=Chiron biography |url=http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/www.astro/chibio.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502122306/http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/www.astro/chibio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2009 |access-date=23 June 2006 |website=Vrije Universitiet Brussel}}</ref> The largest known centaur, [[10199 Chariklo]], has a diameter of about {{Convert|250|km|abbr=on}} and is one of the few minor planets possessing a ring system.<ref name="spitzer">{{Cite conference |last1=Stansberry |first1=John |last2=Grundy |first2=Will |last3=Brown |first3=Mike |last4=Cruikshank |first4=Dale |last5=Spencer |first5=John |last6=Trilling |first6=David |last7=Margot |first7=Jean-Luc |date=2007 |title=Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope |page=161 |arxiv=astro-ph/0702538 |bibcode=2008ssbn.book..161S |book-title=The Solar System Beyond Neptune}}</ref><ref name="Braga-Ribas-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Braga-Ribas |first=F. |display-authors=etal |date=April 2014 |title=A ring system detected around the Centaur (10199) Chariklo |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=508 |issue=7494 |pages=72–75 |arxiv=1409.7259 |bibcode=2014Natur.508...72B |doi=10.1038/nature13155 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=24670644 |s2cid=4467484}}</ref>