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Related: About this forumHubble telescope spots Pluto’s moons wobbling in ‘chaos’
Hubble telescope spots Plutos moons wobbling in chaos
Jun 3, 2015
NASA has released a series of images created based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope, and upon first glance they appear to show dinosaur egg-like oblong objects those objects are, however, Plutos moons Hydra and Nix, and according to the space agency they are tumbling in absolute chaos. Such a conclusion was made after analyzing the data from Hubble, which reveals that the two moons wobble about rather than have any set steady course. You can see the "chaos" for yourself in a series of illustrations NASA has released.
The illustrations are shown below, and are computer models based on the Hubble data created to show how the moon Nix in particular has a drastically changing orientation. Says NASA, the sunrise would never be predictable if you happened to live on one of these moons. Both moons, it seems, suffer from this chaotic wobble.
The moons arent to blame for this issue, though. Says the space agency, the gravitational fields in which theyre embedded are constantly shifting and the moons are at their mercy. The shifts themselves are caused by the double planet arrangement that Pluto and Charon have, with the common center of gravity shared between them ultimately being the cause.
It doesn't help that the moons are oblong-shaped, giving them a sort of football-like construction that further amplifies the wobbly effects. A pair of Plutos other moons, Styx and Kerberos, are also thought to be suffering from this tumbling motion. The researchers who made the discovery plan to detail it in a full report in Nature tomorrow.
More:
http://www.slashgear.com/hubble-telescope-spots-plutos-moons-wobbling-in-chaos-03386650/
Warpy
(111,466 posts)The motion probably indicates they don't have stable orbits but are spiraling in toward either Pluto or Charon, depending on which one is in the way first.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,414 posts)This is about the orientation of the moons, not their orbits. The abstract:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v522/n7554/full/nature14469.html
Warpy
(111,466 posts)and it would likely take a century or more of close observation to determine the stability of their orbits.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,414 posts)Their press release on this:
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-hubble-finds-pluto-s-moons-tumbling-in-absolute-chaos
Warpy
(111,466 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,414 posts)Like they have computer models for how our Moon came from a collision of planets.
There's nothing to suggest any of the moons is spiraling inwards.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)roguevalley
(40,656 posts)I love science news. The planets in this system are amazing.