Pluto's four small circumbinary moons orbit Pluto at two to four times the distance of Charon, ranging from Styx at 42,700 kilometres to Hydra at 64,800 kilometres from the barycenter of the system. They have nearly circular prograde orbits in the same orbital plane as Charon.

Pluto has five known moons. The largest, Charon, is half the size of Pluto. Charon’s period of revolution is exactly equal to the rotation period of Pluto itself; in other words, Charon is in synchronous orbit around Pluto. As a result, Charon is visible from only one hemisphere of Pluto.

Nov 4, 2024 · Pluto's moon system – Charon, Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos – is believed to have formed after a collision between Pluto, and another Kuiper Belt Object early in the history of the solar system. The smashup flung material that coalesced into the family of …

Pluto has five known moons: Charon, the largest, whose diameter is just over half that of Pluto; Styx; Nix; Kerberos; and Hydra. Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body, and they are tidally locked.

Feb 22, 2025 · Pluto possesses five known moons. Charon is by far the largest, being fully half the size of Pluto. Pluto’s other four moons—Hydra, Nix, Kerberos, and Styx—are much smaller than Charon.

Feb 22, 2025 · Pluto possesses five known moons. Charon, by far the largest, is fully half the size of Pluto. It revolves around Pluto—more accurately, the two bodies revolve around a common centre of mass—at a distance of about 19,640 km (12,200 miles), equal …

4 days ago · Pluto has five moons. Its largest moon, Charon, is about half the size of Pluto, making it the largest known moon relative to its parent planet in our solar system. Pluto's other moons are: Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.

Using “Charon-light,” Researchers Image Pluto’s Dark Side in Faint Moonlight

2 days ago · Career Spotlight: Engineer (Ages 14-18) article 1 hour ago. 3 min read. ... Pluto and Its Moons: Charon, Nix, and Hydra. 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 ...

Formation of Pluto's moons. 1: a Kuiper belt object approaches Pluto; 2: it collides with Pluto; 3: a dust ring forms around Pluto; 4: the debris aggregates to form Charon; 5: Pluto and Charon relax into spherical bodies.