Editing 2060 Chiron (section)

=== Diameter ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 0.9em; margin-left: 0.7em;" align=right
|+ Summary – size estimates for Chiron:
!Year !! Diameter !! Notes !! Refs
|-
| 1984 || 180&nbsp;km || align=left | Lebofsky (1984) || <ref name="Groussin-2004" />
|-
| 1991 || 186&nbsp;km || align=left | [[IRAS]] || <ref name="Groussin-2004" />
|-
| 1994 || 188&nbsp;km || align=left | Campins (radius {{val|94|6}}&nbsp;km)|| <ref name="Campins-1994" />
|-
| 1996 || 180&nbsp;km || align=left | [[Occultation#Occultations by asteroids|occultation]] || <ref name="Groussin-2004" />
|-
| 1998 || 166&nbsp;km || align=left | Dunham occultation list<br />(Dunham 1998) || <ref name="jpldata" />
|-
| 2007 || 233&nbsp;km || align=left | [[Spitzer Space Telescope]] || <ref name="Stansberry-2007" />
|-
| 2013 || 218&nbsp;km || align=left | [[Herschel Space Observatory]]<br />{{small|(PACS and SPIRE)}} || <ref name="Fornasier-2013" />
|-
| 2017 || 271&nbsp;km || align=left | LCDB || <ref name="lcdb" />
|-
| 2023 || 196&nbsp;km || align=left | Sickafoose || <ref name="Sickafoose2023"/>
|}

The assumed size of an object depends on its [[Absolute magnitude#Solar System bodies (H)|absolute magnitude]] (H) and the [[albedo]] (the amount of light it reflects). In 1984 Lebofsky estimated Chiron to be about 180&nbsp;km in diameter.<ref name="Groussin-2004" /> Estimates in the 1990s were closer to 150&nbsp;km in diameter.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="Groussin-2004"/> [[Occultation#Occultations by asteroids|Occultation]] data from 1993 suggests a diameter of about 180&nbsp;km.<ref name="Groussin-2004" /> Combined data from the [[Spitzer Space Telescope]] in 2007 and the Herschel Space Observatory in 2011 suggests that Chiron is {{nowrap|{{val|218|20}} km}} in diameter.<ref name="Fornasier-2013" /> Therefore, Chiron may be as large as [[10199 Chariklo]].<ref name="Stansberry-2007" /> The diameter of Chiron is difficult to estimate in part because the true absolute magnitude of its nucleus is uncertain due to its highly variable cometary activity.<ref name="Fornasier-2013" />