Fifth moon spotted orbiting Pluto
Posted: Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 6:40 AM ET (1040 GMT)
Astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of a fifth, and very small, moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto. Scientists detected the moon, temporarily designated S/2012 (134340) 1, in Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto taken in late June and early July. The moon is thought to be irregular in shape and between 10 and 24 kilometers across, and in a circular orbit about 42,000 kilometers from Pluto. The moon is the fifth found orbiting Pluto and the second in as many years. Scientists said the searches for moons orbiting Pluto suggest that there are many more smaller particles orbiting the planet, information that will help plan a safe flyby for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft when it goes past Pluto in 2015. The discovery does not affect Pluto's designation as a "dwarf planet" assigned to it by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.
Astronomers announced Wednesday the discovery of a fifth, and very small, moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto. Scientists detected the moon, temporarily designated S/2012 (134340) 1, in Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto taken in late June and early July. The moon is thought to be irregular in shape and between 10 and 24 kilometers across, and in a circular orbit about 42,000 kilometers from Pluto. The moon is the fifth found orbiting Pluto and the second in as many years. Scientists said the searches for moons orbiting Pluto suggest that there are many more smaller particles orbiting the planet, information that will help plan a safe flyby for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft when it goes past Pluto in 2015. The discovery does not affect Pluto's designation as a "dwarf planet" assigned to it by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, June 8
SpaceX: Falcon 9 rocket set to launch Starlink satellites from Florida
WOFL-TV Orlando — 6:35 am ET (1035 GMT) SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
WESH-TV Orlando — 6:34 am ET (1034 GMT) What the ‘Dean of Valuation’ Thinks Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is Really Worth [$1.3T]
Wall Street Journal — 6:32 am ET (1032 GMT) Is Elon Musk’s SpaceX Really Worth $1.75 Trillion?
The New Yorker — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) SpaceX's retail-investor push is raising some red flags
Business Insider — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) |
