1940

American astronomer who in 1977 discovered the astronomical body Chiron inside the orbit of Uranus. Although early newspaper accounts wrongly called Chiron the solar system's tenth planet, Chiron is actually a very large (200-300 km /120-190 miles) diameter comet that travels between Saturn and Uranus. Chiron was among the first of such bodies to be detected, though current theories predict that thousands should be present. Chiron is also one of the smallest bodies to be detected without the benefit of either planetary probes or space-based telescopes.