Moons of Pluto
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The moons of Pluto are moons which orbit the dwarf planet Pluto. There are five moons orbiting the dwarf planet in total. The first one discovered was Charon which is near one quarter the size of Pluto. Charon was also sometimes considered a double dwarf planet. The second was Nix, the third was Hydra, the fourth moon was Kerberos, and the fifth moon to be discovered was Styx.
History[change | change source]
The first and largest moon discovered orbiting around Pluto was Charon, Charon was discovered on June 22 1978 by James Christy. In May 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered two smaller moons which were named Nix and Hydra. [1] Two even smaller moons named Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2011 and 2012. [2] [3]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ "Planetary Names: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov.
- ↑ http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20110720.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NewHorizonsHeadlines+%28New+Horizons+News+Feed%29
- ↑ Science, Mike Wall 2012-07-11T15:06:47Z; Astronomy. "Pluto Has a Fifth Moon, Hubble Telescope Reveals". Space.com.
The Solar System
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Sun • Heliosphere |
Planets ☾ = moon(s) ∅ = rings |
Mercury | Venus | Earth ☾ | Mars ☾ | ||
| Jupiter ☾ ∅ | Saturn ☾ ∅ | Uranus ☾ ∅ | Neptune ☾ ∅ | ||||
| Dwarf planets | Ceres | Pluto ☾ | Haumea ☾ | Makemake | |||
| Eris ☾ | |||||||
| Small Solar System bodies |
Asteroids (minor planets) |
Groups and families: Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Asteroid belt Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Neptune Trojans · Asteroid moons · Meteoroids · Pallas · Juno · Vesta · Hygiea · Interamnia · Europa | |||||
| See also the list of asteroids. | |||||||
| Trans- Neptunians |
Kuiper belt – Plutinos: Orcus · Ixion – Cubewanos: Varuna · Quaoar · Huya | ||||||
| Scattered disc: Sedna | |||||||
| Comets | Periodic comets and non-periodic comets Damocloids · Oort cloud | ||||||
| See also the list of solar system objects | |||||||
