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Pluto and its Moons: Charon, Nix, and Hydra
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Caption:
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A pair of small moons that NASA's Hubble Space Telescope discovered orbiting Pluto now have official names: Nix and Hydra. Photographed by Hubble in 2005, Nix and Hydra are roughly 5,000 times fainter than Pluto and are about two to three times farther from Pluto than its large moon, Charon, which was discovered in 1978.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Pluto | Charon, Hydra, Nix |
| System | Pluto | Kuiper Belt |
| Target Type | Satellite | Dwarf Planet, KBO |
| Mission | Hubble Space Telescope (HST) | |
| Instrument Host | Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Host Type | Space Telescope | |
| Instrument | Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Color | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2009-04-21 | |
| Date in Caption | ||
| Image Credit | NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHUAPL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12453 | |
| Identifier | PIA12453 | |
