Hidden Nook
"Because in Cyberspace, no one can hear you scream."
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Two Moons Discovered Around Pluto
[Media Source*]
(Earth Times) The two new moons were found on May 15 and May 18 respectively and were named S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2. While S/2005 P1, whose orbit is around 40,000 miles away from Pluto, is 100 miles wide, S/2005 P2 is believed to be smaller and around 30,000 miles away from its parent planet. Charon orbits around 12,000 miles away from Pluto.
Although these moons are merely "planetoid-like" objects, their presence raises questions such as how were these bodies captured in the first place and do other Kuiper belt objects (such as Xena) have minor bodies orbiting themselves as well. Although this discovery probably is not a major event as far as astronomy goes, star gazers everywhere will probably be hunting for more lunar objects in order to cement their place in history.
(Earth Times) In-depth analysis of the images has revealed that Pluto's three moons are in resonance with each other. With each 12 circles that Charon takes around Pluto, S/2005 P1 revolves twice and S/2005 P2 thrice. Through this resonance, the NASA team hopes to crack the mystery of the moons' origin. "This is very important for New Horizons, because we will be able to plan a lot more," Stern said.
Although Pluto will probably not be a highlight for human visitation for the next fifty years, if humanity decides to pop by and visit, these asteroids would make great "rest stops" (that is if a ship were to travel beyond the Kuiper belt). As technology improves our telescopic abilities more worlds will probably be discovered, allowing us to see new worlds and begin the first steps towards conquering our "final frontier."
Deutsch ⢠Español ⢠Français ⢠Italiano ⢠Portugese ⢠æ¥æ¬èª ⢠íêµ â¢ æ±è¯
Comment Policy: Comments posted here do not necessarily reflect the views of this site or the authors, and are the legal responsibility of the original commenter. Intelligent opinions welcome. Comment here.
By Darnell Clayton ⢠9:01 PM ⢠Email Post ⢠â¢
Enter your email address below to subscribe.
Button Membership
Important Information
View Blog Stats
Plus 10,667 hits before August 12, 2005
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
Opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of anyone that I work with, for, or associate with in any manner.
