If you’re like most people, you’ve never heard of it. Meet the ringed asteroid-comet hybrid prowling the outer reaches of the Solar System.

So what is Chiron, and what does it mean to be in retrograde?

The short answer is that Chiron is an asteroid-slash-comet orbiting somewhere past Jupiter and Saturn. And until January 2026, it’s going to look like it’s going backwards in the sky. If you can spot it.

But there’s a bit more to the story.