Centaurs are a class of planetes menors that turn around the Sol in orbits located between Jupiter and Neptune. They are largely composed of ice and it is considered that they could be classified as both comets and asteroids. The first centaur discovered was (2060) Chiron. Chiron was the name of a centaur from Greek mythology. As a consequence, all such objects that are discovered are named after centaurs. When Chiron approached his perihelion, he was observed to have a coma. For this reason, Chiron is officially classified as a Comet (95P/Chiron) and as an asteroid, although it is much larger than other comets. Currently, other centaurs are being watched closely to see if they also have cometary activity. The centaurs' orbits are not stable. They had probably been objects of the Kuiper Belt until an encounter with Neptune gravitationally disturbed their orbits and launched them into the Solar System.
