  (2060) Chiron is a large centaur that has been reported active on multiple
occasions including during aphelion passage. Studies of Chirons coma during
active periods have resulted in the detection of C(triple)N and CO outgassing.
Significant work remains to be undertaken to comprehend the activation
mechanisms on Chiron and the parent molecules of the gas phases detected. This
work reports the study of the ices on Chirons surface and coma and seeks
spectral indicators of volatiles associated with the activity. Additionally, we
discuss how these detections could be related to the activation mechanism for
Chiron and, potentially, other centaurs. In July 2023, the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) observed Chiron when it was active near its aphelion. We
present JWST/NIRSpec spectra from 0.97 to 5.27 microns with a resolving power
of 1000, and compare them with laboratory data for identification of the
spectral bands. We report the first detections on Chiron of absorption bands of
several volatile ices, including CO2, CO, C2H6, C3H8, and C2H2. We also confirm
the presence of water ice in its amorphous state. A key discovery arising from
these data is the detection of fluorescence emissions of CH4, revealing the
presence of a gas coma rich in this hyper-volatile molecule, which we also
identify to be in non-local thermal equilibrium (nonLTE). CO2 gas emission is
also detected in the fundamental stretching band at 4.27 microns. We argue that
the presence of CH4 emission is the first proof of the desorption of CH4 due to
a density phase transition of amorphous water ice at low temperature in
agreement with the estimated temperature of Chiron during the JWST observations
(61 K). Detection of photolytic and proton irradiation products of CH4 and CO2
on the surface, in the coma ice grains, or in the ring material is also
detected via a forest of absorption features from 3.5 to 5.3 microns.
