Chiron: The Icy Centaur and the Wounded Healer

What is Chiron?

Chiron (minor body 2060 Chiron) is a small icy body, roughly 200 km across, discovered by Charles Kowal in 1977. It belongs to the centaurs, objects whose orbits cross those of the giant planets: it swings between inside Saturn’s orbit, about 8.5 au from the Sun, and almost out to Uranus, about 19 au, and goes around in about 50 years. It sometimes grows a faint cloud of gas and dust like a comet, so it is listed as both a minor planet and a comet. It is not a planet, and is far too faint to see without a telescope.

Where Chiron is in the sky

The ecliptic is the path the Sun appears to follow across our sky over a year, the plane of Earth’s orbit seen from Earth. Positions along it are measured in degrees, from 0° at the March equinox to 360°. The zodiac divides it into twelve equal 30° parts named after signs: Aries covers 0° to 30°, Taurus 30° to 60°, and so on. The signs are counted from the equinox, not from the star patterns they were named after; those constellations now sit about 24° further along, because Earth’s axis slowly wobbles (precession).

Chiron’s oval orbit makes its speed along the ecliptic vary a lot: it spends from about a year and a half to eight years in a sign.

Chiron in astrology

In astrology Chiron is the wounded healer, named after the centaur of Greek myth who taught healing but could not heal his own wound. It stands for old hurts and the wisdom and care that grow from them. It was added to astrology after its discovery and has no agreed ruling sign.