Pluto's Moons

From 1975 until 2005, astronomers knew of only one moon for Pluto. However, in mid-2005, using the cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope, they were able to see 2 other moons for Pluto. In the picture below, Pluto and its large moon Charon have large spikes coming out of them because they were "over exposed" in order to get the tiny new moons to show up in the picture. The new moons were named Nix and Hydra.

picture from the Hubble Space Telescope showing Pluto, Charon, Nix, and Hydra

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StarChild Authors: The StarChild Team
StarChild Graphics & Music: Acknowledgments
StarChild Project Leader: Dr. Laura A. Whitlock
Curator: J.D. Myers
Responsible NASA Official: Amber Straughn