A team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a fifth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto.
Pluto’s new-found moon, visible as a speck of light in Hubble images, is estimated to be irregular in shape and between 10 and 25 kilometres across. It is in a 95 000 kilometre-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to lie in the same plane as Pluto’s other known moons.
“The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls,” said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, USA, leader of the scientific team that discovered the new moon.
The Pluto team is intrigued that such a small planet can have such a complex collection of satellites. The new discovery provides additional clues for unraveling how the Pluto system formed and evolved. The favoured theory is that all the moons are relics of a collision between Pluto and another large Kuiper belt object billions of years ago.
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978. Hubble observations in 2006 uncovered two additional small moons, Nix and Hydra. In 2011 another moon, known as P4, was found in Hubble data.
Provisionally designated S/2012 (134340) 1, or P5, the latest moon was detected in nine separate sets of images taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 on 26, 27 and 29 June, and 7 and 9 July 2012.
I"m curious to know if Pluto is thought to have a ring system?
This image from hubble shows some Light Banding at Charon and Pluto which could be pixel bleeding from the bright light sources but the band is brighter WRT Charon than Pluto. I would think that Pluto, being the brighter light source, would have more significant pixel bleeding than Charon
Re: HEIC: Hubble Discovers New Pluto Moon
Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:02 pm
by bystander
After the discovery of Nyx and Hydra, the possibility of a Pluto ring system was proposed, and againafterP4 was discovered. This discovery of P5 will probably fuel further speculation, especially if all of Pluto's moons are coplanar, which they appear to be. Charon and the other four moons are possibly the result of a collision between Pluto and another KBO, and a debris ring is possible. We probably won't know for certain until the eminent arrival of New Horizons. Alternative plans for safe passage have already been made if a ring system is discovered.
SETI: Astronomers Ask Public to Help Name Pluto's New Moons
The discoverers of Pluto's two tiniest moons are inviting the public to help select names for the new moons.
By tradition, the moons of Pluto have names associated with Hades and the underworld. Beginning today, people can vote by visiting: Pluto Rocks!
"The Greeks were great storytellers and they have given us a colorful cast of characters to work with," said Mark Showalter, Senior Research Scientist at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. He and the teams of astronomers who made the discoveries will select two names based on the outcome of the voting.
Until now, these small moons have been referred to as, simply, "P4" and "P5". Like Pluto's three other moons, Charon, Nix and Hydra, they need to be assigned names derived from Greek or Roman mythology.
Visitors to the web site will also be able to submit write-in suggestions. These will be reviewed by the team and could be added to the ballot. Voting will end Feb. 25, 2013. The final names will be announced after their formal approval by the International Astronomical Union.
P4 was discovered in 2011 in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. P5 was discovered a year later during a more intensive search for previously unseen objects orbiting the distant, dwarf planet. The moons are only 20 to 30 km (15 to 20 miles) across. Currently, Pluto is receiving special scrutiny by astronomers, because NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is slated to arrive there in July 2015.
Re: HEIC: Hubble Discovers New Pluto Moon
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:36 pm
by Beyond
I was wondering what that yelping off in the distance was.
By tradition, the moons of Pluto have names associated with Hades and the underworld. Beginning today, people can vote by visiting: Pluto Rocks! "The Greeks were great storytellers and they have given us a colorful cast of characters to work with," said Mark Showalter, Senior Research Scientist at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. He and the teams of astronomers who made the discoveries will select two names based on the outcome of the voting.
Until now, these small moons have been referred to as, simply, "P4" and "P5". Like Pluto's three other moons, Charon, Nix and Hydra, they need to be assigned names derived from Greek or Roman mythology. Visitors to the web site will also be able to submit write-in suggestions. These will be reviewed by the team and could be added to the ballot. Voting will end Feb. 25, 2013. The final names will be announced after their formal approval by the International Astronomical Union.
<<In the Messenger's account, In un fiorito prato (‘In a flowery meadow’) every note is charged with descriptive meaning to bring the scene alive for Orpheus and the Shepherds; the beginning is based, as it were on two chords of Gregorian chant: the F and the A culminate in the answering C of angue (snake) that suddenly descends to hide in the grass to rise up suddenly with its fatal bite (punse) that brings mortal poison, implied by the chromatic G to G sharp of piè (foot) Immediately the increasing speed of the repeated B flat shows how Eurydice grows pale, depicted in the downward movement of the melody that takes up again, briefly, a memory of her look when alive in ond'ella al sol (that outshone the sun). The dismay of her companions is expressed in the wandering melody, conveyed in the deep sadness of the minor mode on meste (sorrowing), then suddenly to turn in anxiously rapid notes to save Eurydice, richiamar tentando gli spirti (trying to recall her spirits), depicted in the descending melody in fainting, in lei smarriti (that grew faint), in spite of the rapid notes in a melodic curve to indicate l'onda fresca (the fresh water) which she sprinkled on Eurydice's brow and the loud calls to her, expressed in leaning on the dotted crotchet in e co' possenti carmi (and with powerful charms) that lead in ma nulla valse (but to no avail) to a final expression with the interval of a minor sixth of the uselessness of trying to save the poor girl. In a rising melody she revives and twice cries out the name of Orpheus, the second time with a leap of a minor sixth to show the hopelessness of her cry.>>
The votes have been tallied and the results are in from the SETI Institute’s Pluto Rocks Poll: “Vulcan” and “Cerberus” have come out on top for names for Pluto’s most recently-discovered moons, P4 and P5.
After 450,324 votes cast over the past two weeks, Vulcan is the clear winner with a landslide 174,062 votes… due in no small part to a little Twitter intervention by Mr. William Shatner, I’m sure.
During a Google+ Hangout today, SETI Institute senior scientist Mark Showalter — who discovered the moons and opened up the poll — talked with SETI astronomer Franck Marchis and MSNBC’s Alan Boyle about the voting results. Showalter admitted that he wasn’t quite sure how well the whole internet poll thing would work out, but he’s pleased with the results.
“I had no idea what to expect,” said Showalter. “As we all know the internet can be an unruly place… but by and large this process has gone very smoothly. I feel the results are fair.”
As far as having a name from the Star Trek universe be used for an actual astronomical object?
“Vulcan works,” Showalter said. “He’s got a family tie to the whole story. Pluto and Zeus were brothers, and Vulcan is a son of Pluto.”
The other winning name, Cerberus, is currently used for an asteroid. So because the IAU typically tries to avoid confusion with two objects sharing the same exact name, Showalter said he will use the Greek version of the spelling: Kerberos.
The next step will be to submit these names to the International Astronomical Union for official approval, a process that could take 1–2 months.
(Although who knows… maybe Bill can help move that process along as well?)
The votes have been tallied and the results are in from the SETI Institute’s Pluto Rocks Poll: “Vulcan” and “Cerberus” have come out on top for names for Pluto’s most recently-discovered moons, P4 and P5.
Cerberus, is currently used for an asteroid. So because the IAU typically tries to avoid confusion with two objects sharing the same exact name, Showalter said he will use the Greek version of the spelling: Kerberos.
