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Hubble Confirms New Moons of Pluto


Jay-qu

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lefthttp://hypography.com/gallery/files/1/1/0/1/plutoandits3moons_thumb.jpg[/img]Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of two new moons around the distant planet Pluto. The moons were first discovered by Hubble in May 2005, but the Pluto Companion Search team probed even deeper into the Pluto system with Hubble on Feb. 15 to look for additional satellites and to characterize the orbits of the moons. In the image, Pluto is in the center and Charon is just below it. The moons, provisionally designated S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2, are located to the right of Pluto and Charon.

 

Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
How 'bout Mickey & Minny? Then we can pay Disney a royalty every time we discuss them?:confused:

Seriously though, this is not the Disney Pluto; it's an ancient god's name.

However, Pluto [the planet] was discovered in 1930, and Pluto [the dog] was first named in a Disney cartoon in 1931, so it is reasonable to assume one was named after the other.

 

Perhaps these two moons represent an opportunity to reverse the process: I suggest they be called Wallace and Grommit.

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