The two feats almost did not happen.
, a tiny ringed asteroid, eclipsed a star. This event, called an occultation, marked a first for Webb. At the month's end, Webb turned toward Chariklo again and notched another victory: For the first time, astronomers analyzing the telescope's data spotted clear signs of water ice, the presence of which was only hinted at until now. These observations will guide astronomers to better understand the nature and behavior of tiny bodies in the outer reaches of our solar system.
Although it is the largest of its kind, Chariklo is still too small and too far for even the mighty Webb to photograph directly. Instead, astronomers decided to study it through occultation, which is an indirect but powerful method to study small bodies like Chariklo. But the team did not know if and when a star — without which an occultation would not occur — would fall into Webb's field of view.
The team calculated only a 50% chance that Webb would spot a star bright enough with an interesting object like Chariklo crossing in front. After its launch in 2021, as Webb went through routine course corrections to hold it steady in its parking spot in space, the team continued predicting and revising its list of possible occultations.
On Oct. 18, 2022, Chariklo and its system of two rings crossed in front of a star. Using Webb's near-infrared camera , astronomers monitored the star's brightness for an hour. Resulting data showed two dips in the star's brightness as expected: When the asteroid's rings first hid the star as the eclipse began, and again when the last of its rings wrapped up the occultation.
"The shadows produced by Chariklo's rings were clearly detected," the team wrote in the statement,"demonstrating a new way of using Webb to explore solar system objects."Graphic showing the dimming effects of Chariklo's rings on a background star.
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