Satellites of Pluto: list. What are the satellites of Pluto?

Pluto is a tiny planet of the solar system. It was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh from the USA in 1930. Later, the satellites of Pluto were also discovered and studied. The average distance from the planet to the Sun is just under 40 AU.

Pluto is a 15-star magnitude. This means that it is 4000 times weaker than the stars that are in the visible zone with the naked eye. This celestial body rotates very slowly and makes one revolution in the orbit for 247.7 years. Pluto approaches the Sun much closer than Neptune. Nevertheless, the planet is still quite far away, so it is extremely difficult to study it.

How Pluto got its name

The right to come up with a name for a new planet went to the director of the Lovellov Observatory, VM. The slip. Initially, his widow suggested calling the opening of "Zeus" and then "Lovel" and eventually his name "Constance", but none of these options was approved. Traditionally, the planets were called the names of Roman gods, and "Pluto" was most suitable for this discovery, besides, the name reminded the initials of the director of the observatory.

In fact, there were many more offers with names for a new planet. For example, the editors of the most popular newspaper The New York Times offered to name the opening of the Minerva, but, as in the case of the planet Uranus, this idea was rejected. Also the names were proposed: Athena, Vulcan, Artemis, Zimal, Icarus, Cosmos, Atlas, Hera, Tantalus, Perseus, Pax, Odin, Persephone, Cron, Idana, Prometheus, etc. But neither the satellites of Pluto nor the planet itself received them.

The fact is that most of these names have already been used for asteroids.

Interesting fact

One married couple even offered to name the planet in honor of their newly born child. But in the final analysis, the current name was given to the opening thanks to the 11-year-old girl of Venice Bernie from Oxford. During breakfast, her grandfather, who at that time worked as a librarian at Oxford University, read a newspaper about the discovery. He asked his granddaughter what she thought the newly discovered planet should be called.

The girl said that since the celestial body is very far away and its surface is very cold, it would be appropriate to name it in honor of the Roman god of the underground kingdom of Pluto. The elderly librarian was inspired by this idea and sent a telegraph proposal to his colleagues in the US, after which the name was unanimously adopted and approved on May 1, 1930.

Do Pluto have satellites

Like most planets, Pluto is accompanied by satellites. The most interesting and unusual is Charon. There are also two smaller satellites, Hydra and Nix (Nykta). And two very tiny fellow, who for today have only ordinal numbers.

Charon

Satellites of the planet Pluto are amazing in their characteristics, but the most mysterious of them is Charon. It is very remarkable because of its origin. The fact is that until 2005 it was the only satellite of a small planet. Later, scientists managed to find two smaller bodies that also rotated around Pluto. Charon was located at a distance of more than 20,000 km from the planet, and its mass at the time of discovery was 1.9 sextillion kilograms.

History

Small satellites of Pluto were discovered relatively recently, but Charon attracted the attention of astronomers back in 1978. Since its discovery, it was believed that the planet has only one heavenly body in its orbit.

All in the same 1978, specialists studied the pictures of Pluto. With careful consideration, scientists drew attention to a small "bulge", located before the disk of the planet.

Pluto-Charon

This system is so called because of the general properties of the satellite and the planet. According to one hypothesis, both objects of the solar system emerged simultaneously at the time of the collision and their independent formation. That is, Charon is essentially a fragment of Pluto. Thus it is possible to assume that Nicta and Gadra are also particles of the planet. The origin of small satellites remains a scientific mystery.

An interesting phenomenon

In 1985-1990, Pluto and Charon entered the stage of eclipse, at which time it was possible to observe the orbits of the satellite and the planet from the earth. This is one of the rarest phenomena that happens only twice during the 248-year cycle of Pluto's revolution around the Sun. Fortunately, in the late 80's, the attention of scientists was literally riveted to Pluto, so they were able to fix the exact dimensions of the satellite. And, unfortunately, the next time to see this and fix all the indicators will be very soon.

Characteristics of Charon

Due to its distance from the light, Charon's surface is very cold, and its temperature is 220 degrees below zero. It is not surprising that the satellite is completely covered with a thick layer of ice. This fact gives rise to even more questions and guesses of scientists, including the origin of the celestial body. There is a theory that the satellite has geological activity, due to which water can form on its surface. Even despite such low temperatures. This is confirmed by the fact that on the surface of Charon, hydrates of ammonia have been identified, which should have undergone complete decay from solar activity.

Of course, these are just guesses, but the findings indicate that Charon stores many secrets that are still to be learned.

Forecasts

Astronomers and other scientists are extremely interested in a more detailed consideration of the question of which satellites in Pluto and what their origin, and in particular, of course, Haron. In this regard, in 2015 it is planned to launch a series of studies devoted to this particular planet and its satellites.

It is noteworthy that Charon rotates simultaneously with the planet, so they are always directed to each other by one side. All these facts simply could not but interest the scientific community.

Small satellites of Pluto

The younger brothers of Charon were also discovered relatively recently, in 2005. They were two small satellites P1 "Hydra" and P2 "Nykt". Their diameter was only 45-55 km.

In 2011, the 4th satellite of the Pluto-P4 satellite was found. Its diameter is 13-33 km. In the final account, in 2012, the "satellite family" was replenished with another detected baby P5. Its diameter is only 10-25 km. Apparently, the small satellites of Pluto, whose list is being replenished, have not yet received names. But already there is information that P4 and P5 will be given the nicknames Vulcan and Cerberus. These names scored the most points on the internet voting conducted by the SETI Institute.

Summarize

Thus, at the time of the latest research (in 2013), five celestial bodies were known, which are the satellites of Pluto. In fact, it is assumed that there are many more, just smaller bodies safely disappear from the eyes of scientists. But if you believe the theory that when the planet was formed, splinters could split, in the near future we are waiting for the next discoveries.

Satellites of Pluto, whose names are still at the stage of approval, will be studied, as well as the enigmatic Charon. There are quite interesting hypotheses and conjectures, which have not yet been confirmed by serious evidence or facts.

Thanks to modern technologies and fairly clear pictures, experts can not only characterize satellites, but also simulate the process of their formation. This allows you to answer many questions, but also generates a number of new more interesting puzzles for humanity, which is so eager to look into the universe.