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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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Rob Pinnegar
post Nov 2 2005, 04:04 PM
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I just ran through some simple calculations concerning the orbit of the inner new satellite (the one for which a~49000 km).

If this moon were traversing a perfectly circular path around the system's barycentre, with the orbit in the same plane as Charon's, then the total acceleration due to gravity it would experience at closest approach to Charon should be about 5% stronger than the acceleration it experiences when it is farthest away from Charon. So one could conclude from this that the orbit can't really be a perfect circle.

I'm no expert at classical dynamics, but from an intuitive standpoint it's difficult to see how the orbit could be stable under these circumstances unless the moon were in the 4:1 resonance.

My semi-educated guess is that, to first approximation, the moon's distance from Pluto probably varies with an angular frequency that is exactly three times the angular frequency of its revolution about the system's barycentre. For the outer moon it would be five times the revolution frequency.

The only other satellite in the solar system that is in a similar position is Hyperion, but somehow I doubt that the effects are anywhere near as large in Hyperion's case since Saturn's mass is so much greater than Titan's. It will be an interesting problem to solve.

[Edit: ... If it hasn't been solved already, which I'm guessing it has.]
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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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