Pluto Has a New Moon
July 25th 2011 00:29
Category: Planets
The diagonal streaks(digital artifacts) on the original image were removed (Ed. CMooreStars) image NASA ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute)
Pluto has another moon, recently a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope made a discovery. They found a new moon orbiting the icy planet Pluto, designated S/2011 (134340) a temporary name of P4 will
be used until an official name is designated. P4 makes the number of “moons” found so far Pluto to 4.
Why has it taken so long to find this new “moon”
Pluto is very a small object located at the edge of the Solar System. Pluto first moon Charon was discovered in 1978.
P4 orbits Pluto every 32 days at a distance of around 59,000 km. P4 is estimated to be around 19 km in diameter. P4 is very small when compared to Pluto’s larger moon Charon which is 750 1,210 km in diameter.
The diameter of P4 is just an estimate at this stage until further observations are undertaken this figure may be revised. Astronomers have been using the Hubble telescope to map Pluto and gather further information on it’s surrounding. This information is crucial for the planned arrival of New Horizons, due to arrive at Pluto’s destination in 2015.
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The New Horizons spacecraft will study and document Pluto and it’s moons and then move toward the outer reaches of the solar system to study other cold, icy inhabitants of the Kuiper Belt.
P4 and its sister moons were possibly formed when a large object may have struck Pluto at the time when the early solar System was forming. The resulting rocky material began orbiting Pluto forming Pluto’s moons.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CMoreStars
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Yes, perphaps New Horizon might find another distant icy planet far beyond Pluto!