Hubble telescope spies fifth moon around Pluto
Posted: 07/12/2012
LOS ANGELES - There's something lurking around distant and icy dwarf planet Pluto: a fifth moon.
A team of scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope said Wednesday they have discovered the tiniest moon yet around Pluto. That brings the number of known moons to five.
The mini-moon is estimated to be 6 to 15 miles across, smaller than the one that scientists spotted last year, which is 8 to 21 miles wide. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, is about 650 miles across.
Until the newly found moon gets a name, it will be known as P5.
A NASA spacecraft named New Horizons is speeding toward Pluto where it will arrive in 2015. When New Horizons launched in 2006, Pluto was a full-fledged planet, but astronomers have since demoted it to dwarf planet.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PRINT
Top Stories
-
OK tornado social media images, videos
The National Weather Service said the tornado had winds up to 200 mph. Here are the latest images and videos being shared on social media of the devastating storm.
-
VIDEO: Meteorite crashes into moon
-
What's that rainbow ring around the sun?
-
'Serious' problem reported aboard ISS
-
Huggies app tweets you when baby pees
-
3 easy steps to stay safe from hackers
