Friday, October 23, 2015

Kerberos, last of Pluto's moons




Data downloaded from New Horizons earlier this week shows a fuzzy image  of Pluto's moon, Kerberos.  It shows the moon is double-lobed shape, with the larger lobe approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) across and the smaller lobe approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) across.  This makes it the second smallest moon, after Styx.

Scientists previously thought Kerberos was much larger and its surface darker when it was discovered back in 2011.  Its surface is highly reflective, like Pluto's, which could mean it is covered with a layer of water ice.



A  family portrait of Pluto's moons:  Charon is by far the largest of the five.


http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/plutos-tiny-moon-Kerberos

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