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More Moons Around Pluto?
JRehling
post Oct 31 2005, 05:49 PM
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Press Release Source: NASA


NASA's Hubble Reveals Possible New Moons Around Pluto
Monday October 31, 12:30 pm ET


WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to view the ninth planet in our solar system, astronomers discovered Pluto may have not one, but three moons.
If confirmed, the discovery of the two new moons could offer insights into the nature and evolution of the Pluto system; Kuiper Belt Objects with satellite systems; and the early Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a vast region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune's orbit.

"If, as our new Hubble images indicate, Pluto has not one, but two or three moons, it will become the first body in the Kuiper Belt known to have more than one satellite," said Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He is co-leader of the team that made the discovery.

Pluto was discovered in 1930. Charon, Pluto's only confirmed moon, was discovered by ground-based observers in 1978. The planet resides about 3 billion miles from the sun in the heart of the Kuiper Belt.

"Our result suggests other bodies in the Kuiper Belt may have more than one moon. It also means planetary scientists will have to take these new moons into account when modeling the formation of the Pluto system," said Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo. Stern was co-leader of the research team.

The candidate moons, provisionally designated S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2, were observed approximately 27,000 miles away from Pluto. The objects are roughly two to three times as far from Pluto as Charon.

The team plans to make follow-up Hubble observations in February to confirm the newly discovered objects are truly Pluto's moons. Only after confirmation will the International Astronomical Union consider names for S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2.

The Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys observed the two new candidate moons on May 15, 2005. The candidates are roughly 5,000 times fainter than Pluto. Three days later, Hubble looked at Pluto again. The two objects were still there and appeared to be moving in orbit around Pluto.

The team looked long and hard for other potential moons around Pluto. "These Hubble images represent the most sensitive search yet for objects around Pluto," said team member Andrew Steffl of the Southwest Research Institute. "It is unlikely that there are any other moons larger than about 10 miles across in the Pluto system," he said.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. The Institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Washington.


For detailed information and images about this research on the Web, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/news/2005/19

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home




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Source: NASA
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tasp
post Nov 13 2005, 04:33 AM
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In re to Comga's post:

(I'm speculating here) For thin Uranian style rings would effects of a nearby mass (such as Charon) be mostly in bumping up the eccentricity of each ring? If that was the extent of the effect, not sure we see a big hit in ring longevity in this possibility. (I assume between each narrow ring would lie a strong resonance from Charon)

For broad Saturn style rings (with ring particles 'cheek by jowl') having the particles experiencing strong effects from Charon becomes, perhaps, more interesting. The dynamical ring spreading mechanism would seem to be enhanced in this scenario. Every orbit around the primary, all the ring particles bump more vigorously and transfer momentum across the ring plane. Would such effects 'overpower' the resonance 'curbs' in the ring system? Perhaps.

Then we are in a scenario where, due to the strong momentum transfer across the ring system, we see a large effect 'pushing' the lower edge of the ring downward and the upper edge outward.

This does not seem compatible with long ring retention, but, once the (possible) ring material thins out, you may approach the Uranian model, and perhaps get to see some skinny dark rings in 2014?

Are there other 'damaging' effects of a nearby Charon on rings of Pluto other than increased orbital eccentricity? Inclination changes seems unlikely.

Possible 'demethanization' of Charon from tidal heating would imply a slight degree of atmosphere interacting with the ring system when Charon passes between the sun and Pluto. Such an effect would not persist after tide lock, but atmosphereic drag and ring systems don't seem to go together.
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ljk4-1
post Dec 1 2005, 03:36 PM
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Paper: astro-ph/0511837

Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:37:52 GMT (124kb)

Title: New Constraints on Additional Satellites of the Pluto System

Authors: A.J. Steffl, M.J. Mutchler, H.A. Weaver, S.A.Stern, D.D. Durda, D.
Terrell, W.J. Merline, L.A. Young, E.F. Young, M.W. Buie, and J.R. Spencer

Comments: 18 pages including 4 figures
\\
Observations of Pluto and its solar-tidal stability zone were made using the
Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on UT
2005 May 15 and UT 2005 May 18. Two small satellites of Pluto, provisionally
designated S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2, were discovered and are reported by
(Weaver et al. 2005). These observations also provide strong constraints on the
existence of any additional satellites of Pluto. We place a 90%-confidence
lower limit of V=26.2 (V=27.1 for a 50%-confidence lower limit) on the
magnitude of undiscovered satellites >5" from Pluto. Assuming an albedo of
p_v=0.04 (similar to cometary nucleii and a reasonable lower limit), this
corresponds to a limiting diameter of 37 km at 90%-confidence (25 km at
50-confidence). For an assumed albedo similar to Charon, i.e p_v=0.38, the
magnitude limit corresponds to a limiting diameter of 12 km at 90%-confidence
(8 km at 50%-confidence). At distances <5" from Pluto, scattered light from
both Pluto and Charon degrades the sensitivity of our search, such that at 1.7"
from Pluto the 50%-confidence magnitude limit is V=25.3, corresponding to a
limiting diameter of 57 km for an object with p_v=0.04.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511837 , 124kb)


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"After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance.
I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard,
and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does
not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is
indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have
no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft."

- Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853

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- JRehling   More Moons Around Pluto?   Oct 31 2005, 05:49 PM
- - ElkGroveDan   RE: More Moons Around Pluto?   Oct 31 2005, 06:38 PM
- - imran   Another reason to get excited about New Horizons...   Oct 31 2005, 06:57 PM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (imran @ Oct 31 2005, 11:57 AM)Another ...   Oct 31 2005, 07:51 PM
|- - Rakhir   QUOTE (JRehling @ Oct 31 2005, 09:51 PM)...   Nov 1 2005, 10:18 PM
- - remcook   very interesting! http://www.spaceflightnow.c...   Oct 31 2005, 09:09 PM
- - Mariner9   I doubt this will cause any problems on the encoun...   Oct 31 2005, 09:38 PM
|- - RNeuhaus   QUOTE (Mariner9 @ Oct 31 2005, 04:38 PM)I dou...   Oct 31 2005, 09:46 PM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (RNeuhaus @ Oct 31 2005, 02:46 PM)I tho...   Oct 31 2005, 10:16 PM
|- - RNeuhaus   QUOTE (JRehling @ Oct 31 2005, 05:16 PM)I res...   Nov 2 2005, 03:00 PM
- - Myran   Once again Hubble proves it value. Its been specul...   Oct 31 2005, 10:10 PM
- - alan   QUOTE Unique orbits cannot be calculated from the ...   Nov 1 2005, 12:28 AM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (alan @ Nov 1 2005, 12:28 AM)New moons ...   Nov 3 2005, 04:29 AM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 2 2005, 09:29 PM)If correct...   Nov 3 2005, 12:29 PM
||- - tasp   QUOTE (JRehling @ Nov 3 2005, 12:29 PM)Well, ...   Nov 3 2005, 04:11 PM
||- - tedstryk   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 3 2005, 04:11 PM)Like in th...   Nov 3 2005, 07:09 PM
||- - JRehling   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 3 2005, 09:11 AM)Like in th...   Nov 3 2005, 09:43 PM
||- - tty   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 3 2005, 06:11 PM)Like in th...   Nov 4 2005, 06:59 PM
||- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (tty @ Nov 4 2005, 12:59 PM)Hmm... I di...   Nov 4 2005, 07:33 PM
||- - JRehling   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Nov 4 2005, 12:33 PM)Ca...   Nov 4 2005, 07:36 PM
|- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 2 2005, 10:29 PM)If correct...   Nov 3 2005, 03:27 PM
- - Rob Pinnegar   Just a couple of points concerning this exciting n...   Nov 1 2005, 12:53 AM
|- - Alan Stern   See www.boulder.swri.edu/plutonews for a great dea...   Nov 1 2005, 01:16 AM
|- - Rob Pinnegar   I'm confused here: On the website cited above,...   Nov 1 2005, 02:54 AM
||- - john_s   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Nov 1 2005, 02:54 AM)I...   Nov 1 2005, 04:47 PM
||- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (john_s @ Nov 1 2005, 10:47 AM)No, you ...   Nov 1 2005, 05:03 PM
|- - jamescanvin   QUOTE (Alan Stern @ Nov 1 2005, 11:16 AM)See ...   Nov 1 2005, 04:45 AM
||- - DEChengst   QUOTE (jamescanvin @ Nov 1 2005, 06:45 AM)Rec...   Nov 1 2005, 12:03 PM
||- - odave   Add my congrats to the pile as well. This is fant...   Nov 1 2005, 04:04 PM
||- - Ames   QUOTE (DEChengst @ Nov 1 2005, 01:03 PM)I...   Nov 1 2005, 04:22 PM
|- - djellison   QUOTE (Alan Stern @ Nov 1 2005, 01:16 AM)See ...   Nov 1 2005, 08:11 AM
- - Rob Pinnegar   I just ran through some simple calculations concer...   Nov 2 2005, 04:04 PM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Nov 2 2005, 09:04 AM)I ...   Nov 2 2005, 05:22 PM
|- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (JRehling @ Nov 2 2005, 11:22 AM)A fun ...   Nov 2 2005, 05:38 PM
- - Rob Pinnegar   The other neat thing is that the total acceleratio...   Nov 2 2005, 06:06 PM
- - Phil Stooke   Ted's pics of Umbriel are, as ever, excellent....   Nov 3 2005, 09:26 PM
- - Phil Stooke   ...and here's a mosaic of the entire visible h...   Nov 3 2005, 09:30 PM
|- - tasp   I very much appreciate the Umbriel pictures. Mayb...   Nov 3 2005, 10:34 PM
|- - tedstryk   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 3 2005, 10:34 PM)I very muc...   Nov 3 2005, 10:45 PM
|- - mchan   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 3 2005, 03:34 PM)I very muc...   Nov 4 2005, 03:25 AM
- - Phil Stooke   Ted, my interests are really in the area of making...   Nov 3 2005, 11:15 PM
|- - tedstryk   QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Nov 3 2005, 11:15 PM)Ted...   Nov 4 2005, 03:49 AM
|- - tasp   More good pictures of mysterious Umbriel. Does an...   Nov 4 2005, 04:28 AM
- - dvandorn   The "ridgy" feature becomes clear when y...   Nov 4 2005, 08:26 AM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Nov 4 2005, 08:26 AM)The ...   Nov 4 2005, 02:37 PM
- - Phil Stooke   I'm posting more images in the historic images...   Nov 4 2005, 03:04 PM
|- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Nov 4 2005, 09:04 AM)I...   Nov 4 2005, 04:05 PM
- - dvandorn   Interesting. I always knew, at some level, that t...   Nov 4 2005, 07:39 PM
- - mike   Yeah, but aligned spheres in space are part of wha...   Nov 4 2005, 08:23 PM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (mike @ Nov 4 2005, 08:23 PM)Yeah, but ...   Nov 4 2005, 10:42 PM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 4 2005, 03:42 PM)Would a hp...   Nov 4 2005, 11:52 PM
- - Gsnorgathon   All this talk of resonance and opposition surges m...   Nov 5 2005, 02:00 AM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 5 2005, 02:00 AM)All...   Nov 5 2005, 03:29 AM
||- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 4 2005, 09:29 PM)Yes, excel...   Nov 6 2005, 03:24 PM
||- - tasp   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Nov 6 2005, 03:24 PM)Um...   Nov 6 2005, 06:19 PM
||- - tasp   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 6 2005, 06:19 PM)Yes, and i...   Nov 7 2005, 04:21 AM
||- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 6 2005, 10:21 PM)It may be ...   Nov 7 2005, 05:36 PM
||- - ljk4-1   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Nov 7 2005, 12:36 PM)Yu...   Nov 7 2005, 10:19 PM
||- - David   QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Nov 7 2005, 10:19 PM)Has...   Nov 7 2005, 11:54 PM
||- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (David @ Nov 7 2005, 05:54 PM)This sort...   Nov 8 2005, 01:20 AM
||- - Comga   QUOTE (David @ Nov 7 2005, 05:54 PM)This sort...   Nov 8 2005, 04:14 AM
||- - JRehling   QUOTE (David @ Nov 7 2005, 04:54 PM)This sort...   Nov 9 2005, 04:16 AM
|- - Rob Pinnegar   QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 4 2005, 08:00 PM)All...   Nov 6 2005, 07:23 PM
|- - tasp   QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 4 2005, 08:00 PM)All...   Nov 9 2005, 01:25 AM
|- - tasp   Additional: Perhaps the Io analogy needs to be pr...   Nov 9 2005, 05:09 AM
|- - Gsnorgathon   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 9 2005, 01:25 AM)[snip] Th...   Nov 11 2005, 01:24 AM
|- - odave   QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 10 2005, 08:24 PM)Re...   Nov 11 2005, 03:46 AM
||- - ljk4-1   Contact: Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382 News Re...   Nov 12 2005, 04:00 AM
|- - JRehling   QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 10 2005, 06:24 PM)Re...   Nov 12 2005, 06:05 AM
- - alan   The last three large KBO's found were later fo...   Nov 7 2005, 11:15 PM
- - BruceMoomaw   Well, Chiron (NOT Charon), after its 1977 discover...   Nov 8 2005, 02:01 AM
- - edstrick   Tasp: "The phrase 'widespread and recurr...   Nov 9 2005, 07:39 AM
- - tasp   How conclusively do the occulatation derived studi...   Nov 12 2005, 03:17 PM
|- - Comga   QUOTE (tasp @ Nov 12 2005, 09:17 AM)How concl...   Nov 12 2005, 09:52 PM
- - tasp   In re to Comga's post: (I'm speculating h...   Nov 13 2005, 04:33 AM
|- - ljk4-1   Paper: astro-ph/0511837 Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 1...   Dec 1 2005, 03:36 PM
- - Rob Pinnegar   It's good to see that some abstracts are start...   Dec 7 2005, 02:42 AM
- - Comga   QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Dec 6 2005, 08:42 PM)No...   Dec 17 2005, 09:50 PM


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