Tag: new horizons

Congratulations New Horizons, You’ve Finally Made It!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft probe has made the first visit to Pluto, speeding past at 14km or 8.7 miles per second!!

New Horizons’ flyby of 2,370km-wide Pluto is a key moment in the history of space exploration. This was a historic mission because it marks the fact that every planet in that system – from Mercury through to Pluto – has now been visited at least once by a space probe!

For more information on this historic mission please visit: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33524589

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-big-is-pluto-new-horizons-settles-decades-long-debate

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/07/13/it-showtime-for-pluto-prepare-to-be-amazed-by-nasa-flyby/

Pluto Gets A Fifth Moon!

 

Once upon a time, there were nine planets in the solar system.  Then astronomers decided to remove Pluto from the equation, describing the smallest and most distant planet in the solar system as something more like a moon and less like an actual planet.  Well, scientists are taking a second look at the lone planet, because Pluto seems to have more secrets than we’ve given it credit for.  The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a fifth moon orbiting around Pluto.

“The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls,” said Mark Showalter, the leader of the SETI Institute team that found the images of the fifth moon.  ”This is a very tidy system, and what that means is, it’s an orbitally evolved system.  Literally there are shells where the orbits are stable.”

The moon, which hasn’t been named yet, was given the provisional name S/2012 (134340) 1, which has been shortened to P5.  Pluto already has four moons:  Charon, Hydra, Nix, and the unnamed P4.  Scientists are holding off naming the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto due to the upcoming New Horizons space probe mission, which has the potential to discover even more moons for Pluto.  After all, while the Hubble can see far away, there’s no better vantage point than getting nice and close.