Astronomers Are “Confused” By The Orbit Of Pluto’s Moons
Here is a bit more information on why astronomers are so confused. Apparently they spin in a way that is different than anything else in our solar system:
“The way I would describe this system is not just chaos, but pandemonium,” Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, said today (Nov. 9) during a news conference at the meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. “We honestly have not seen anything like this before, and we still don’t know what to make of it.”
The new results show that as the four moons orbit Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, some of them are spinning incredibly fast, one is spinning backward against its orbit and some are tilted on their sides. This is in stark contrast to nearly every other moon in Earth’s solar system, most of which are locked into a more rigid and unmoving orbit around their parent bodies, making Pluto’s moons the wild children of the solar system.
Do you have any theories on why this is happening? Feel free to comment and we’re looking forward to hearing more from NASA as new data comes in.
thanks to space.com for the great info
thanks to NASA for the pic
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Wow. This is the first time I’ve heard Pluto has moons.
You. Mama,,,
We’re thet formed from a collision like they say? Maybe it’s alien gases? Brighter more beautiful.
Planets are just atoms to something greater and we’re just an infestation.
You’re a special kind of crazy, aren’t you?
They’ve known Pluto has moons for a long time now. I learned about its biggest moon, Charon, in the early 90’s in grade school.
Damn, I was deprived.
Joshua Cooper we all are
Eric Chaplin
it’s not a moon but a ship
Well then we are the universe itself trying to figure itself out . Galaxies are Atoms not planets . Hell the entire universe we live in may just be a single atom of something greater .
Pluto & Charon are lost moons & the chaotic orbits of the smaller captured satellite are remnants from the Late Heavy Bombardment.
Maybe just stray meteors or Space debris that was caught in orbit. Wouldn’t be surprised if the big mood ended up being a planets core. The possibilities are endless in the universe
Perhaps because they are not technically moons of Pluto but Pluto and its moons are a very small system of rocky objects making up a much larger system of ice and rocky debris called the Kuiper Belt?