Earth’s Moon has a consistent pattern of waning and waxing, but has anyone thought about the moons of other planets–dwarf or otherwise? In a recent study, Pluto’s moons had their movements closely observed and really their movements could be described as dancing–if rhythmic movement were any indication of that.
There’s been a fortunate amount of coverage on Pluto’s moons lately. They consist of Charon (the largest), Styx, Nix, Hydra and Kerberos. In a recent study, observable was Pluto and her moon’s strange rhythmic movements incomparable to the movements of any comparable planetary objects. Nature reports on this study’s strange finds.
The Dance Shared By Pluto and Pluto’s Moons
The performance itself involves two parts. First, Pluto and Charon partner. Mark Showalter, the author of the study describes this as looking like they are “locked together in their own waltz as if they are a dumbbell” with a rod connecting them.” Meanwhile, the smaller of Pluto’s moons circle the pair, slowly move toward them, unsteadily, simultaneously being pushed and pulled by larger Pluto and Charon. The movements are described to be very precise. The five moons interacted when they were near each other as well, but in different ways.
Showalter and University of Maryland’s Doug Hamilton, discovered that the smaller of Pluto’s moons are linked together by gravitational resonance. This describes why they orbit Pluto and Charon in synchrony.
The Space Community Looks Forward to Learning More on Pluto’s System Very Soon
This is interesting because it’s our solar systems first known binary planet system–except neither Pluto or Charon are technically full-blown planets. The study’s implications give us an idea of what could be happening in other distant solar and star systems concerning the planets, and the stars and moons that revolve around them.
Not to be forgotten: NASA’S New Horizons spacecraft will finally be able to shed greater light on Pluto’s moons in Pluto’s tight-knit system this upcoming July after nine-years of travel! The spacecraft will have been traveling 3 billion miles. To put it in perspective, when New Horizons first took off, Pluto was still considered a planet.
