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Chiron: Orbits
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In January 1995 scientists reported detecting an envelope of gas and dust around Chiron, similar to the coma of a comet, but held in place by gravity from the large body. Other observations have documented different levels of cometary activity on Chiron over time. In some cases, astronomers have found old photographs that recorded Chiron long before it was recognized as a special object. Calculations suggest at some time in the future Chiron could move into the inner solar system to become a short-period comet. Short-period comets have orbital periods of 20 years or less, and are influenced by the gravitational pull of the planet Jupiter.
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Two separate arguments indicate that Chiron has not been in its present orbit for more than a few million years. The first is that Chiron's orbit is unstable on time scales of about a million years to perturbations from the large outer planets. The second argument involves the super-volatiles sublimating from Chiron's surface. It is estimated that at Chiron's current orbit these substances would completely vaporize in a few million years, so the fact that Chiron is still active means it has not been in this orbit that long. The fact that Chiron must have come to its present state from another location in the solar system has led investigators to look towards the Kuiper belt.
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Chiron has the greatest orbital eccentricity of any planet. Where 0.0000 is a circle, and 1.0000 is a line, Chiron's eccentricity is 0.3786. Formerly, Pluto's orbit was the most eccentric, at 0. 2482; before Pluto's discovery, Mercury's orbit displayed the greatest eccentricity, at 0. 2056.
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