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Moons of Pluto facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Pluto system 2006
Image taken from the Hubble Telescope showing Pluto and its three largest moons.

The moons of Pluto are moons which orbit the dwarf planet Pluto. There are five moons orbiting the dwarf planet in total. The first one discovered was Charon which is near one quarter the size of Pluto. The second was Nix, the third was Hydra, the fourth moon was Kerberos, and the fifth moon to be discovered was Styx.

History

Plutonian system size
Similar sizes of the Objects in the Plutonian system.

The first and largest moon discovered orbiting around Pluto was Charon, Charon was discovered on June 22 1978 by James Christy. In May 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered two smaller moons which were named Nix and Hydra. Two even smaller moons named Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2011 and 2012.

Images for kids

  • Nh-pluto moons family portrait

    The small moons to approximate scale, compared to Charon.

  • PIA19856-PlutoCharon-NewHorizons-Color-20150714

    Pluto and Charon, to scale. Photo taken by New Horizons on approach.

  • Pluto moon P5 discovery with moons' orbits

    Discovery image of Styx, overlaid with orbits of the satellite system

  • Masses of Plutonian moons

    The relative masses of Pluto's moons. Charon dominates the system. Nix and Hydra are barely visible and Styx and Kerberos are invisible at this scale.

  • Charon Eclipses Pluto on 25 February 1989

    Simulated view of Charon transiting Pluto on 25 February 1989.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Satélites de Plutón para niños

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