Hubble detects new Plutonian moon
Pluto has a history of interesting names for moons, (Charon, Nix, Hydra) but now that it’s been demoted to planetoid it’s just a letter and a number…
A Hubble Space Telescope search for possible rings around Pluto has turned up a diminutive fourth moon orbiting the dwarf planet.
The body, temporarily dubbed P4, joins Charon, Hydra and Nix in the family circling the icy world. NASA says P4 is around 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km) in diameter, as compared to Hydra and Nix’s 20 to 70 miles (32 to 113 km) and big brother Charon’s 648 miles (1,043 km).
Graphic of Pluto’s moons in their relative orbits. Pic: NASAP4’s orbit lies between those of Hydra and Nix, which Hubble also first spotted back in 2005