Authors: Weaver H. A., Buie M. W., Buratti B. J., Grundy W. M., Lauer T. R., Olkin C. B., Parker A. H., Porter S. B., Showalter M. R., Spencer J. R., Stern S. A., Verbiscer A. J., McKinnon W. B., Moore J. M., Robbins S. J., Schenk P., Singer K. N., Barnouin O. S., Cheng A. F., Ernst C. M., Lisse C. M., Jennings D. E., Lunsford A. W., Reuter D. C., Hamilton D. P., Kaufmann D. E., Ennico K., Young L. A., Beyer R. A., Binzel R. P., Bray V. J., Chaikin A. L., Cook J. C., Cruikshank D. P., Dalle Ore C. M., Earle A. M., Gladstone G. R., Howett C. J. A., Linscott I. R., Nimmo F., Parker J. Wm., Philippe S., Protopapa S., Reitsema H. J., Schmitt B., Stryk T., Summers M. E., Tsang C. C. C., Throop H. H. B., White O. L., and Zangari A. M.
%F: AA(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AB(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AC(NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA), AD(Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA), AE(National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 26732, USA), AF(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AG(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AH(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AI(SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA), AJ(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AK(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AL(Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA), AM(Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA), AN(Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), AO(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AP(Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA), AQ(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), AR(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AS(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AT(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AU(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AV(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA), AW(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA), AX(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA), AY(Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA), AZ(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BA(Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), BB(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BC(SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.; Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), BD(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA), BE(University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA), BF(Independent science writer, Arlington, VT, USA), BG(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BH(Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), BI(Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), BJ(University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA), BK(Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA), BL(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BM(Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA), BN(University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA), BO(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BP(Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France), BQ(Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA), BR(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BS(Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France), BT(Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA), BU(George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA), BV(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA), BW(Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA), BX(Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA), BY(Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA)
Title: The small satellites of Pluto as observed by New Horizons
Abstract: The New Horizons mission has provided resolved measurements of Pluto's moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. All four are small, with equivalent spherical diameters of ~40 kilometers for Nix and Hydra and ~10 kilometers for Styx and Kerberos. They are also highly elongated, with maximum to minimum axis ratios of ~2. All four moons have high albedos (~50 to 90%) suggestive of a water-ice surface composition. Crater densities on Nix and Hydra imply surface ages of at least 4 billion years. The small moons rotate much faster than synchronous, with rotational poles clustered nearly orthogonal to the common pole directions of Pluto and Charon. These results reinforce the hypothesis that the small moons formed in the aftermath of a collision that produced the Pluto-Charon binary.
Keywords: Charon, faint, Hydra, Kerberos, Nix, planetology, Pluto, small, Styx
Journal: Science
Volume: 351
Pages: aae0030
Year: 2016
Bibliogaphic Code: 2016Sci...351.0030W
Return to previous page