On July 14, 2015, the New Horizons space probe passed by Pluto and its five moons. This was an extraordinary discovery because for several decades, Pluto was just a speck in the sky. The New Horizons mission had been carried out for a little under decade and is the first spacecraft to fly past Pluto. Its main purpose is to observe Pluto and its five moons. It has a secondary mission and that is to explore the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto is probably the “planet” we know the least about, at least before the New Horizons space probe passed it a few months back. First discovered in 1930 by an astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto was considered the ninth planet in our Solar system for over 70 years. Then in 2003, Eris, a small planet larger than Pluto, …show more content…
They are Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Charon was discovered in 1978. Nix and Hydra were discovered together in 2005, which is a year before the New Horizons spacecraft left Earth in 2006. Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2012 and 2011 respectively. The four newer ones were discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope. Charon is the largest of the five moons and Styx is the smallest. New Horizons got really close to the second largest moon, Nix, so we got good images of it compared to the ones of the other moons. Charon displays several cracks on its surfaces. It seems to have a canyon system similar to the ones in Mars. Charon demonstrates cryovolcanism from the smoother areas on its surface. Scientists believe that it once had an internal water system that froze and expanded causing for it to break through the ground and make these ice volcanoes emerge. It is interesting to discover how unique the moons of Pluto are in comparison to ours. This is all new information for us and it is available to us because of the New Horizons …show more content…
Astronomers knew little about the surface because of how far it was from Earth. We now know that its surface is most likely covered in ice. “Water ice is strong enough to hold up big mountains and that’s what we think we’re seeing here. This is the first time we’ve seen this. The methane and nitrogen are just a coating,” said Alan Stern, chief investigator of the New Horizons mission. Also since it is so far from the Sun, its surface temperature is about 375 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit below 0. Pluto used to be a blurry bunch of pixels. Now we have higher resolution photographs of Pluto and its five moons. With New Horizons, we are not only learning more about what is in our solar system but also what is outside of
Pluto is probably the “planet” we know the least about, at least before the New Horizons space probe passed it a few months back. First discovered in 1930 by an astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto was considered the ninth planet in our Solar system for over 70 years. Then in 2003, Eris, a small planet larger than Pluto, …show more content…
They are Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Charon was discovered in 1978. Nix and Hydra were discovered together in 2005, which is a year before the New Horizons spacecraft left Earth in 2006. Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2012 and 2011 respectively. The four newer ones were discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope. Charon is the largest of the five moons and Styx is the smallest. New Horizons got really close to the second largest moon, Nix, so we got good images of it compared to the ones of the other moons. Charon displays several cracks on its surfaces. It seems to have a canyon system similar to the ones in Mars. Charon demonstrates cryovolcanism from the smoother areas on its surface. Scientists believe that it once had an internal water system that froze and expanded causing for it to break through the ground and make these ice volcanoes emerge. It is interesting to discover how unique the moons of Pluto are in comparison to ours. This is all new information for us and it is available to us because of the New Horizons …show more content…
Astronomers knew little about the surface because of how far it was from Earth. We now know that its surface is most likely covered in ice. “Water ice is strong enough to hold up big mountains and that’s what we think we’re seeing here. This is the first time we’ve seen this. The methane and nitrogen are just a coating,” said Alan Stern, chief investigator of the New Horizons mission. Also since it is so far from the Sun, its surface temperature is about 375 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit below 0. Pluto used to be a blurry bunch of pixels. Now we have higher resolution photographs of Pluto and its five moons. With New Horizons, we are not only learning more about what is in our solar system but also what is outside of