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Pluto Has Three Moons, Hubble Images Show
ap on Yahoo ^ | 10/31/05 | Alex Dominguez - ap

Posted on 10/31/2005 6:22:32 PM PST by NormsRevenge

BALTIMORE - Pluto has three moons, not one, new images from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest. Pluto, discovered as the ninth planet in 1930, was thought to be alone until its moon Charon was spotted in 1978.

The new moons, more than twice as far away as Charon and many times fainter, were spotted by Hubble in May.

While the observations have to be confirmed, members of the team that discovered the satellites said Monday they felt confident about their data.

"Pluto and Charon are not alone, they have two neighbors," said Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Follow-up observations by the Hubble are planned in February. If they are confirmed, the International Astronomical Union will consider names for the objects.

Earlier this month another group of astronomers, who claim to have discovered the 10th planet in the solar system, also said that body had a moon. (Whether the group actually discovered a new planet has not been confirmed.)

Both Pluto and the new, so-called planet are found in the Kuiper Belt, a disc of icy bodies beyond Neptune. In fact, about a fifth of the objects observed in the region have been found to have satellites, and the percentage could grow as more are found, said Keith Noll, an astronomer at the Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute. The institute coordinates use of the orbiting telescope, but Noll wasn't part of the Pluto team. He believes Pluto team's finding is convincing.

Weaver said Pluto would be the first Kuiper belt object found to have multiple satellites. Depending on how reflective the surface of the moons are, the newly found moons are estimated to be between 30 and 100 miles across, he said.

Further observations of Pluto and the two new bodies will help astronomers more accurately determine the mass and density of Pluto and its large moon Charon, said team member Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.

The jury is still out on the impact additional moons will have on the ongoing debate over whether Pluto is actually a planet.

While having a moon is a not a criteria — Mercury and Venus are moonless — having more can't hurt, Stern said.

"Just on a visceral level, the fact that Pluto has a whole suite of companions will make some people feel better," Stern said.

_____

On the Net:

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

http://www.boulder.swri.edu/plutonews


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: charon; hubble; images; kbo; kuiperbelt; moons; planetx; pluto; three; xplanets
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optical interferometry observatory:
Google

81 posted on 11/01/2005 10:33:12 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Sunday, August 14, 2005.)
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To: jpsb; RadioAstronomer
Hubble is mankinds finest telescope, ignorant people will try to tell you that land based telescopes can "see" better then Hubble, that is Bull, space based telescopes see MUCH better then land based.

We now have cheap disposable satellites. For what it costs us to send men up to repair Hubble, we can send up better satellites that do a better job. It's a matter of economy. Throw the old one away because it is cheaper to buy a new one than repair the old one. It is sad to see it go though.

82 posted on 11/02/2005 1:11:39 AM PST by FOG724 (http://gravenimagemusic.com/)
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To: NormsRevenge

Are there any moons that have moons?


83 posted on 11/02/2005 1:19:32 AM PST by The Red Zone (Florida, the sun-shame state, and Illinois the chicken injun.)
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To: KevinDavis

I just signed up tonight, but I would like to be added to your ping list, please.


84 posted on 11/02/2005 1:27:53 AM PST by Peleliu1944
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To: RightWhale

Still cannot see in the UV no matter how big. You need a space platform for that. Hubble is very much needed.


85 posted on 11/02/2005 5:12:14 AM PST by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: JustDoItAlways

And your point is?

You want different platforms for different spectra. One, the downlinks are already huge and two, you can point different platforms in different directions at the same time.


86 posted on 11/02/2005 5:13:50 AM PST by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: FOG724; jpsb
We now have cheap disposable satellites.

Where? I sure haven't ever seen one. Also don't forget the expense of a launch vehicle.

For what it costs us to send men up to repair Hubble, we can send up better satellites that do a better job.

Not a chance.

Throw the old one away because it is cheaper to buy a new one than repair the old one.

Nope.

It is sad to see it go though.

Indeed. We will prob not see the like in our lifetimes again. Nor the capability.

87 posted on 11/02/2005 5:17:37 AM PST by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: RadioAstronomer

How about putting one on the moon?


88 posted on 11/02/2005 5:20:11 AM PST by The Red Zone (Florida, the sun-shame state, and Illinois the chicken injun.)
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To: NormsRevenge

 

Oh, you meant Pluto...

 

89 posted on 11/02/2005 5:24:06 AM PST by Fintan (If this tagline lasts longer than 4 hours, please consult a physician.)
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To: Fintan

And here's a story about 3 other space telescope satellites (not mentioned in my previous post) working in tandem to tease out a hidden neutron star.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050715070053.htm

And another one about NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051101223708.htm


90 posted on 11/02/2005 5:50:37 AM PST by JustDoItAlways
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To: RadioAstronomer
I know of one battle I am personally in the middle of to save a five 60-foot dish radio telescope array as we speak.

Do you mean the Stanford array?

I'm of the opinion that even when our observatories and massive scientific instruments become obsolete, they should most empathatically not be destroyed, but be preserved as tourist attractions and the like for future generations to appreciate.

91 posted on 11/02/2005 7:59:29 AM PST by RightWingAtheist (Free the Crevo Three!)
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To: RadioAstronomer
"Indeed. We will prob not see the like in our lifetimes again. Nor the capability."

Bump, a mirror is a mirror is a mirror, gong from memory, but I believe Hubble's mirror took years and years and years to grind and polish, cost over 1 billion dollars, I do not think the USA will put anything (optical) as good as Hubble up in space for a long long time.

But just about the same time our government lets Hubble burn up in the atmosphere the Chicoms will be launching their space telescope, not as capable as Hubble but maybe the Chicoms will let us use it from time to time. It is sad to watch Red Chinese over take us in space.

The shuttle fleet can not finish the (worthless, pc) space station to many missions to few shuttles, but the billions of dollars invested in Hubble can be saved by one mission. It's crazy not to fly that one mission.

92 posted on 11/02/2005 1:31:11 PM PST by jpsb
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To: RadioAstronomer

While I have no doubt that you are correct since you are in the industry, this is what the general public is being told. This is what the space shows tell us.


93 posted on 11/02/2005 5:31:40 PM PST by FOG724 (http://gravenimagemusic.com/)
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This Day In History: Houdini Is Dead October 31, 1926
History Channel.com | October 31, 1926 | History Channel.com
Posted on 10/30/2005 11:01:54 PM PST by mdittmar
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1512414/posts


94 posted on 11/03/2005 9:48:18 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
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To: Fintan

NASA's mission to Pluto is coming up. Is is powered by plutonium. When they send a mission to Neptune, is it powered by neptunium?


95 posted on 12/05/2005 8:38:39 AM PST by RightWhale (Not transferable -- Good only for this trip)
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To: Darksheare

How about Proserpine (Greek name Persephone) for the more distant moon? She was the gal Pluto (Hades) kidnapped. She lives in the underworld in the winter and comes back to earth each spring.

That leaves the other moon. How about Cerberus, after the dog that guards the underworld?


96 posted on 12/05/2005 8:53:09 AM PST by Our man in washington
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To: Our man in washington

Sounds good to me!


97 posted on 12/05/2005 10:12:55 PM PST by Darksheare (I'm not suspicious & I hope it's nutritious but I think this sandwich is made of mime.)
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To: vannrox; sourcery; FairOpinion
I guess we can flush *this* now:
Pluto Hit By Twin to Create Moon, Study Suggests
by Robert Roy Britt
27 January 2005
Pluto might have been hit long ago by a virtual twin in a collision that created the ninth planet's moon Charon, according to a new computer simulation... Now Canup has turned her attention to the Pluto-Charon system, for which other theorists proposed a similar impact solution in the 1980s. Until now, however, no models of the suspected Pluto collision have successfully created Charon. The most likely alternative is that Pluto captured Charon, just as some small moons of Saturn and Jupiter are thought to have lured into orbit.
Pluto and its moons formed separately, and wandered together (capture rooooools!).
98 posted on 12/28/2005 12:45:02 PM PST by SunkenCiv ("In silence, and at night, the Conscience feels that life should soar to nobler ends than Power.")
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
There must be a mistake. Pluto, like most dogs, would only have two "moons"... [um, never mind]

Must be near Uranus.

99 posted on 12/28/2005 12:46:12 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: NormsRevenge

But, Uranus has, what, nine?


100 posted on 12/28/2005 12:51:42 PM PST by don-o (Don't be a Freeploader. Do the right thing. Become a Monthly Donor!)
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